Zorc: Dortmund to remain competitive despite player sales

Borussia Dortmund has no intention of letting up in its pursuit of silverware despite seeing a mass exodus of star players from the Westfalenstadion this summer, according to the club's sporting director.

Mats Hummels, Ilkay Gundogan, and Henrikh Mkhitaryan have left Dortmund to take the next step in their careers, joining Bayern Munich, Manchester City, and Manchester United, respectively.

But Michael Zorc has worked hard to usher in a new era for the Bundesliga outfit. After snapping up Ousmane Dembele, Sebastian Rode, Raphael Guerreiro, Emre Mor, and Marc Bartra, Dortmund could yet make more moves for reported targets Andre Schurrle and Mario Gotze.

BVB has started to look a lot like Germany's version of Ajax, producing a line of talent that in the end finds greater success elsewhere.

But Zorc insists that the club is aiming higher than that.

"We want to do the best we possibly can and that has not changed a lot," Zorc told German TV, according to ESPN FC. "In each competition we are in, we want to go as far as possible. Borussia Dortmund are always going to be a club who sees themselves in the Champions League."

It's clear Dortmund dreads a repeat of Robert Lewandowski's free transfer to Bayern, which is why it decided to allow the likes of Hummels, Gundogan and Mkhitaryan to leave for big fees. All three players had just a year remaining on their contracts with Dortmund.

"With the players who have left, we had to consider whether we should sell them now or let them go for free next year," Zorc said. "We decided to let them go now, but we've brought in a couple of exciting players."