Is Dortmund where Arsenal was at in the early 00s?

I see a ton of parallels...a team which has been assembled through excellent scouting on a comparative shoestring budget that's taking on the established power. They do not yet have the financial strength where they can hold on to stars but the prestige they've gotten for their results/attractive football has allowed them to get adequate/semi-adequate replacements and sustain their momentum...also year after year their financial strength is growing. My question for you guys is that after a few more years of this kind of success can dortmund get to the point where arsenal is today(ie a top tier club which can make big signings every summer, challenge for the title etc.).

dortmund are ahead of arsenal imo, they finish 2nd not 4th

I see the the parallels, absolutely. Of course, they aren't exactly the same but there are enough similarities there to support your argument

That's the aim. Get financially strong so they can keep their best players and add world class players to that squad aswell.

Dortmund already have a big stadium which Arsenal didn't have, that stadium generates most of the money, they also signed a new contract with Signal Iduna and changed to PUMA, they will now get more money from the new TV deal aswell as the rest of the Bundesliga clubs. They are a top 10 team financially already.

I can see similarities but I believe Dortmund are a bit ahead of Arsenal '00 financially. That said, it'll be a lot harder for Dortmund to enter the top 5 because of the league they play in. To do that they need to drastically improve their commercial revenue and earn money in other ways like Bayern do rather than ripping the fans off, how the Premier League clubs do.

B-Mac wrote:dortmund are ahead of arsenal imo, they finish 2nd not 4th

Well, arsenal did exit in the naughties.

just sayin!

yup, its similar, but dortmund already have a great stadium so they have a head start. However, arsenal are much more of a global brand and generate a lot more commercial revenue. so dortmund have to improve on that front if they want to reach the top.

Arsenal had Premier League marketing backing them, Bundesliga generates ridiculously little international TV revenue.