Five teams who lose their best players every year

Three players in the picture above have left the club and the other two could follow suit — Three players in the picture above have left Monaco this summer and the other two could follow suit

#2 Borussia Dortmund

Lewandowski, Hummels and Gotze joined Bayern Munich from Borussia Dortmund

Borussia Dortmund’s rise from the verge of bankruptcy to win back to back Bundesliga titles and later become UEFA Champions League finalists is one of football’s most romantic stories.

The club’s incredible fan base and style of play have made them a favourite among the neutrals. This has also resulted in them getting plenty of sympathy every summer when they lose their key assets and have to rebuild their spine.

During the Jurgen Klopp era at Dortmund, the first major player to leave the club and join a top European side was their former club captain Nuri Sahin in 2011, when he signed for Real Madrid. Now, Sahin was named the Bundesliga Player of the Season for the 2010/11 season where the German club were crowned champions.

Two years later, in a shocking move, Mario Gotze opted to join rivals Bayern Munich a few weeks before the two clubs were due to play in the Champions League final. Robert Lewandowski and Mats Hummels also opted to follow Gotze’s path with the former joining the Bavarians on a free transfer.

Some of the other notable key players to leave Dortmund in recent years include Shinji Kagawa (Manchester United), Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Manchester United) and Ilkay Gundogan (Manchester City).

The Ruhr club might lose at least one more crucial player this summer as Ousmane Dembele is trying to force a move to Barcelona against the wishes of his current employers.

Edited by Arvind Sriram