Borussia Dortmund and their captain are making an important statement in the season run-in: Dortmund-born Marco Reus, 33, who first joined BVB at youth level as a six-year-old in the mid-1990s, has extended his expiring contract by an additional year until the end of the 2023/24 campaign. He will therefore embark upon his 12th season in total as a Black & Yellow first-team player in the summer. With 161 competitive goals, he is currently only 16 away from breaking the record set by club legend Adi Preißler.

BVB CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke lauded Reus as a “deserving player of our club”, whom he personally wished “the greatest possible success in the latter stages of his career”. Watzke continued: “Marco has had a lot of bad luck with injuries, but he’s a Borusse through and through and as the captain of our team, he pursues exactly the same goals we all do: he is and remains supremely ambitious to lead our BVB to its greatest objectives.”

Sporting director Sebastian Kehl said the following of the new contract: “I’m very happy that Marco has signed and will continue his special story at BVB for another year. We did not allow ourselves to be distracted by day-to-day discussions at any point and we always conducted our talks together in a positive, trusting and targeted manner. As a player and a role model, Marco is enormously important for this club – among our fans in the South Stand and in this city, but also beyond the borders of Dortmund and to BVB fans all over the world, too. As a long-time BVB player and a Dortmund native, he will not only continue to play an active role in enjoying success on the pitch, but will also use all his experience to advance the development of the younger generation within our squad.” 

Marco Reus said the following of his contract extension: “As a team, we – just like all of our fans –have a big goal on our minds right now which our full focus is on: we want to become German champions; to do that, we’ll need every single Borusse. But beyond that, I still really want to do my best for the club I’ve spent over half my life with. There’s still nothing better for me than scoring goals in front of the best fans in the world in the most beautiful stadium in the world and celebrating victories together. That’s why I’m happy I’ve extended my contract for another year, because I’ve always said there’s no other club I’d prefer to play for over BVB in my career.”