Reports this week suggested that Tottenham had found their new co-sporting director.
Sebastian Kehl is reportedly the man tasked with rebuilding this ill-fitted Spurs squad, working alongside Johan Lange to turn the north London side into genuine European contenders. The 46-year-old left his role with German side last month.
Spurs, though, need to stave off the drop. The 2025 Europa League winners sit two points off safety with five games to play. They have five cup finals to see out the season, starting with Saturday’s trip to Wolves.
Consolidate a Premier League spot, and Spurs can look ahead to next season. Relegation could spell disaster. Regardless, Spurs need to get the summer window right. They need to address key areas and bring in the relevant personnel to either avoid another relegation-threatened campaign, or secure an immediate Premier League return.
Kehl, then, will have his work cut out in order to sort this sorry Spurs squad. And having succeeded Michael Zorc at Borussia Dortmund in 2022, the former midfielder knows a thing or two about filling big boots.
Here we assess each of Kehl’s seasons in Dortmund and whether his signings were a success of a failure.
2022-23
Kehl’s immediate priority was to address Erling Haaland’s exit. The Norwegian’s Manchester City move had already been confirmed prior to his appointment as Dortmund sporting director. Manuel Akanji ended up following Haaland to the Etihad Stadium.
However, Kehl initially struck gold in defence. The towering Niklas Sule joined from Bayern Munich on a free transfer. The former Hoffenheim man made a bright start to life in Dortmund, registering 23 league starts in his debut campaign.
The 30-year-old, though, would go on to struggle with injuries and will leave Dortmund this summer. The same can’t be said of Nico Schlotterbeck. Sule’s Germany teammate has been a huge hit at the Westfalenstadion following his £22m arrival from Freiburg.
While the centre-back has endured his injury issues, Schlotterbeck has become a mainstay for this Dortmund side. Crucially is that the 26-year-old put pen to paper on a new Dortmund deal earlier this month, which is a huge boost for the club.
Further forward, and Kehl sought to ease Haaland’s exit with the signings of Sebastien Haller and Karim Adeyemi. The addition of the former didn’t quite go to plan. 12 days after joining from Ajax, the Ivorian was diagnosed with testicular cancer.
Thankfully, Haller would go on to make a full recovery and returned for the second half of the season to score nine times and provide four assists as Dortmund narrowly missed out on the title. The 31-year-old was limited to just 14 league appearances in his second season due to an ankle injury and ultimately departed for Leganes on loan in 2024, before completing a permanent return to Dutch side Utrecht in 2025.
Adeyemi, meanwhile, has fared slightly better in a Dortmund shirt. The German has managed just 23 league goals across four seasons with Die Schwarzgelben with injury issues also impacting the forward’s consistency.
2023-24
Just like in the summer of 2022, Kehl had to make do with a key sale once the transfer window opened as Jude Bellingham departed for Real Madrid. Rather than splash the case on an elite world class replacement, Dortmund opted to share the load with the additions of Felix Nmecha and Marcel Sabitzer from Wolfsburg and Bayern Munich, respectively.
That’s not to say both underperformed. Rather, Dortmund perhaps missed a trick by not going all out to sign a world class replacement. Sounds similar to Spurs and their 2013 sale of Gareth Bale…
In addition, Niclas Fullkrug joined from Werder Bremen. The 33-year-old performed well in his one and only season at Dortmund. Indeed, Fullkrug scored 12 times and laid on eight assists in the 2023-24 campaign.
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At left-back, Algerian Ramy Bensebaini arrived from Gladbach on a free, while Ian Maatsen joined on loan from Chelsea. Both caught the eye that season, though Kehl was criticised for not including a buy option for the latter.
Jadon Sancho also returned to Dortmund for the second half of the season. The English winger didn’t pull up any trees domestically for the German side, but was instrumental as the Bundesliga outfit reached the Champions League final. The standout clash was the first leg win over PSG as Sancho completed 13 take ons.
2024-25
Kehl did well in his penultimate summer window as Dortmund cashed in on Fullkrug and replaced the German with Serhou Guirassy. The 30-year-old thrived in his final VfB Stuttgart season, netting 28 times. He followed that up with 21 league goals in his debut campaign. Only Harry Kane (26) scored more that season.
Guirassy wasn’t the only player Dortmund signed from Stuttgart, with centre-back Waldermar Anton also making the trip north. The defender has gone on to become a key player for Niko Kovac’s men.
The big money addition was Maximilian Beier, who signed from Hoffenheim. Beier showed plenty of promise in his final campaign with Hoffenheim, but has thus far struggled to transfer his goalscoring form to Dortmund.
The 23-year-old has scored as many goals in two years with Dortmund as he managed in his final season with Hoffenheim (16). The experienced Pascal Gross also joined from Brighton, though he’d go on to return to the Premier League side in January 2026, while Yan Couto, Carney Chukwuemeka and Daniel Svensson all arrived on loan.
In terms of outgoings, Fullkrug wasn’t the only forward to depart on Kehl’s watch. Dutchman Donyell Malen also left the club in the January window, moving to Aston Villa. Club icon Marco Reus also called time on his Dortmund career, securing a free transfer to MLS side LA Galaxy.
2025-26
The summer it started to unravel for Kehl. Couto, Chukwuemeka and Svensson all saw their respective loan moves made permanent. The former and the latter have both impressed for the German side. Chukwuemeka, meanwhile, has only started eight league games, and played the full 90 just the once, that coming in the recent 2-1 loss at Hoffenheim.
In addition, Kehl sanctioned the signing of Fabio Silva from Las Palmas. The Portuguese forward bagged 10 times in La Liga last season. However, he has just one goal to his name in Germany’s top tier this term. To his credit, Silva has registered six assists. Only Julian Ryerson (12) has more of all Dortmund players.
Kehl also green-lit the big money signing of Jobe Bellingham, a transfer that has been widely criticised. Bellingham has struggled to follow in his brother’s footsteps, and made just 16 league starts under Kovac. The midfielder has received as many red cards as he’s had goal involvements (1) in the 2025-26 Bundesliga campaign.
To his credit, Kehl managed to make a substantial profit on Jamie Gittens. The winger moved to Chelsea with a burgeoning reputation yet has thus far failed to light up the Premier League.
In addition, the former Dortmund supremo was left frustrated by Chelsea’s decision to recall defender Aaron Anselmino from his loan spell late in the winter window. The Argentine’s unexpected exit saw teenager Luca Reggiani called up from the U19 squad for the second half of the season.