Dortmund brings sports director Book from Elversberg

From the Saarland province to top European football: Borussia Dortmund presented Ole Book as their new sports director just one day after parting ways with Sebastian Kehl. The former professional comes to BVB from SV Elversberg, second in the second division, and is considered a man with an excellent eye for talent. Book will receive a three-year contract with BVB and will report to sports director Lars Ricken.

“With Ole Book we were able to bring our ideal candidate for the position of sports director to BVB,” said Ricken. “I have been following his excellent work in Elversberg for a long time, first as sports director and most recently as sports director, and I am absolutely convinced that Ole is a very good fit for us both professionally and personally.” Ricken said he had “great trust in Ole and his expertise when it comes to developing creative and bold ideas on the transfer market.”

Book, 40, who made it to the second division as a midfielder, has been responsible for large parts of the small SVE’s rise from the fourth division to the gates of the Bundesliga since 2017. Players like today’s national striker Nick Woltemade (Newcastle United) and Fisnik Asllani (TSG Hoffenheim) recommended themselves for higher tasks. The sports director brought Younes Ebnoutalib out of the sixth division and sold him to Eintracht Frankfurt a year later for eight million euros.

“Borussia Dortmund is a special club for me with an emotional connection since childhood,” said Book, who is already said to have a decisive influence on the planning of the upcoming BVB season. Among other things, there are further contract negotiations with key player Nico Schlotterbeck. Dortmund have already confirmed the separation of Niklas Süle, Julian Brandt and Salih Özcan.

After his immediate departure from BVB on Sunday, Kehl (46) will be considered sports director at Hamburger SV.