Klopp vows to stand by youth policy
Borussia Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp has promised that he will continue to rely on homegrown talent at the club.
By ESPNSTAR.com staff
Dortmund were in major financial trouble and on the brink of bankruptcy in 2005 but managed to climb back into financial health by sticking to a youth policy instead of buying established stars. The Westfalen club returned to the top of German football recently, winning the Bundesliga for the past two years and achieving the double with the DFB Pokal win last season.
Klopp reveals that he is proud of the youth development at the club and vows to stick by it.
"[Bayern president] Uli Hoeness once wanted to tie down Ilkay Gundogan," Klopp told Bild.
"He thought Ilkay could develop as well as he did with us. In Munich he would have already been broken.
"We are committed to having young players in our first and second teams. We do not lose track of our future needs."
23-year-old striker Julian Schieber arrived at the club from Stuttgart for €5.5 million and Klopp backs him to be the future of Germany's strikeforce.
"Mario Gomez and Miroslav Klose, who is next? Julian is certainly a candidate in the coming years," he added.
"He scored seven goals at Nurnberg [in 2010-11], including two against us!"