Borussia Dortmund’s incredible ‘REAL’ transfer fees are revealed after cashing in on Jude Bellingham, Erling Haaland and Ousmane Dembele – who is now the third-most expensive footballer EVER

Borussia Dortmund have reportedly sold a total of £876 million worth of players since 2015.

The German giants are known for being able to make large sums of money from talented players acquired for little money, or even developing themselves further.

To ensure they can compete at the highest level of German and European football, Dortmund have always let their biggest stars leave for big money, which they then use to build a new squad.

Before this summer, they had earned €994m (£839m) from player sales in just nine years. They quickly broke the €1bn barrier in the transfer window after letting Niclas Füllkrug leave for West Ham for £22.8m.

According to BILD, Dortmund have become Germany’s best-selling club over the past nine years thanks to the sale of superstars such as Jude Bellingham, Erling Haaland and even Ousmane Dembele.

The sale of Niclas Fullkrug to West Ham this summer brought the total transfer fee to over a billion euros

Erling Haaland (bottom) and Jude Bellingham (top) both left for big fees in 2022 and 2023

Perhaps the most notable sale of all the players Dortmund have approved is that of Dembele, who left for Barcelona in 2017.

The French striker signed for BVB just a year earlier, when he was one of the brightest prospects in Europe at the age of 18.

His 10 goals and 20 assists in 49 games in Germany convinced the Spanish giants to fork out a whopping £96million to secure his signature.

Or so we thought. BILD now suggests the final price for Dembele’s transfer was £124.9m, making the winger the third most expensive signing in history after Neymar Jr and Kylian Mbappe, who both moved to Paris Saint-Germain in 2018.

It is believed that all of Barcelona’s bonus payments to Dortmund have now been completed. £16.9m of the total fee came from the Catalan giants, who reached the Champions League twice while Dembele was playing for them.

Another infamous sale in the Bundesliga club’s recent history was that of Bellingham, who moved to Real Madrid last summer.

Bellingham joined Signal Iduna Park from his boyhood club Birmingham City as a fresh 17-year-old for just over £25million, including bonuses.

It is believed that Dembele’s final transfer fee was £124.9m after all bonuses were paid

It is suggested that Bellingham told Real Madrid he would only sign if Dortmund met demands of more than €100 million

Year after year, the midfielder’s value increased dramatically until Los Blancos came calling three years after his successful spell in the Bundesliga.

The England star could not turn down a move to arguably the biggest club in the world and Dortmund initially raised £88m from his sale.

However, Mail Sport reported at the time that the final fee would rise to £113m due to £25m in performance-related bonuses. It is believed that some of those bonuses have already been achieved.

Dortmund owe the large sum of money they raised to Bellingham, who is said to have told his current club he would only sign if they met the German club’s demands.

Although the sales of Dembélé and Bellingham proved lucrative for Dortmund, not all top talents left for the desired price.

When Erling Haaland left the club in 2022 to sign for Premier League champions Manchester City, he was regarded as one of the best strikers in the world, if not the best.

Haaland scored 86 goals in 89 games for the German club but left for just over £50million

Both Bellingham and Haaland have won the Champions League since leaving Dortmund

However, Dortmund only shelled out just over £50m for the goal machine, a small sum for someone who had scored 86 goals in just 89 games for them.

The reason for the low fee has now been revealed. Haaland and his team requested an exit clause to be included in his contract in the summer of 2021, just 18 months after arriving in Germany, BILD reports.

The German side initially did not appreciate the request, as they had not included such a clause since 2013. However, just a year later, Haaland’s wish was granted and he moved to his native country.

That Dortmund’s sales strategy is sensational is beyond dispute, given the figures mentioned in this article.

The German giants have spent almost £800m in the same period but have failed to win the Bundesliga or the Champions League

However, not all their money has paid off. In the same period, the club has spent almost £800m on income – less than £100m less than what they took in.

During that period, Dortmund have won just three domestic trophies and five Bundesliga top prizes, but have never managed to win the title.