Marcel Sabitzer at Borussia Dortmund: expensive deadwood, scapegoat and rotation player

At 32 and with more than 600 competitive appearances in professional football behind him, Marcel Sabitzer is an old hand who is not easily rattled. The midfielder, who has been at Borussia Dortmund since 2023, has also had to deal with rumours and speculation time and again.

Last summer was unlikely to have felt much different. Even so, the noise around the Austrian grew louder, particularly towards the end of the transfer window.

Part of that was down to his sporting situation. Sabitzer has gone through constant ups and downs in his three seasons at BVB. Too often his performances have fallen short, and too rarely has he managed to sustain the flashes of quality that have certainly been there. The bottom line is clear: despite 117 competitive appearances in that period, Sabitzer has lacked the consistency to establish himself as an undisputed regular starter over the long term.

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When does Marcel Sabitzer’s contract at BVB expire?

He did become one last season, but that was mainly because Felix Nmecha was out injured. Sabitzer started 26 times last year, and five goal involvements was a meagre return. His prospects in central or defensive midfield were limited. Alongside Nmecha, coach Niko Kovac increasingly handed Jobe Bellingham minutes.

With Sabitzer’s contract running until the end of June 2027 and BVB signing Joey Veerman, a regular starter in his area of the pitch, transfer rumours were inevitable. That is why there was plenty of speculation in mid-August when Sabitzer at a team gathering made a "lightning exit" and sped off again before the last of his team-mates had arrived at the scene.

For two weeks now, one thing has been clear: Sabitzer will stay at Borussia at least until the winter break. He is "happy" in Dortmund, as his adviser Roger Wittmann announced to Sky on Deadline Day. At his current employer, Sabitzer can play at a "high level", Wittmann said.

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Marcel Sabitzer had "ten different enquiries" in the summer

That does not mean there was no interest. According to his adviser, Sabitzer had "ten different enquiries". BVB certainly would not have turned down an offer in line with the market value for the 102-cap international. Because that did not arrive, Sabitzer is now heading into a farewell year in Dortmund. "Next year", Wittmann explained tellingly, his client would then be able to weigh up all options.

Borussia will not be one of them. The club are not planning to extend Sabitzer’s contract. There is a reason for that: not only has he not met expectations often enough on the pitch, he also earns a great deal of money. Sabitzer, for whom Dortmund once paid €19 million to Bayern Munich, is estimated to be on an annual salary of €8 million. The new signings around Veerman, Konstantinos Karetsas and Giannis Konstantelias are each expected to earn at most half of that.

For BVB, it is a familiar and painful story: players paid far too much compared to what they produce on the pitch simply run down their highly lucrative contracts. That was the case, for example, with Nico Schulz, Marius Wolf, Niklas Süle or Salih Özcan. Who could blame them?

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"Bottle": Marcel Sabitzer’s wife clashes with abusive user

The answer is simple: people on social media, of course! Sabitzer has long been cast as the villain there because of his too-frequent poor displays. Most recently, things even escalated to the point that Sabitzer’s wife Katja stepped in on Instagram.

Under a post containing Wittmann’s comments, one user wrote that he had "really hoped we’d got rid of the bottle". Sabitzer’s wife, winner of the TV show 'Der Bachelor' in 2014, replied: "I’d really love to know what you’ve achieved in your life?" The spiteful retort: "I took part in The Bachelor, what about you?" Mrs Sabitzer responded again: "Blimey, you’re all so nasty. Your reply says everything about you. You know nothing at all about my life."

For many around BVB, Sabitzer has become a symbol of deadwood. He represents the Dortmund of previous years, when the club splashed out hefty transfer fees and salaries on established, slightly older players who offered little in return. The notably refreshing approach of the new sporting leadership and the recent transfer window led by energetic sporting director Ole Book raised hopes that they would also move on players like Sabitzer, Ramy Bensebaini and Emre Can.

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Marcel Sabitzer recently used on the offensive flank at BVB

Patience may simply be needed for one more year. As things stand, though, it is not true that Sabitzer can offer nothing to the team.

Kovac values his experience, aggressive style and flexibility. That is also part of the story: Sabitzer is one of those versatile No 8s of whom BVB recently had far too many in the squad. His lack of consistency is also linked to the fact he has hardly ever played in the same position for any length of time.

The same is likely to define what is intended to be his final year in Dortmund. With Nmecha, Bellingham and Veerman, the middle is crowded. Just as in the Austria national team, in which due to the high workload of recent years he will take a break in future, Sabitzer has to move out to both attacking flanks and the half-spaces. So far, Kovac has not given him a Bundesliga start.

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Marcel Sabitzer will probably only be a rotation player at BVB now

Against Villarreal in the Champions League, however, Sabitzer did start and produced a respectable display, showing plenty of intensity and some good ball recoveries. He has also recently done a decent job off the bench, renamed a "finisher" by Kovac. Sabitzer set up Nmecha’s overhead-kick goal recently against Paderborn.

Unless one of his rivals gets injured, Sabitzer’s role as a rotation player is unlikely to change much now. The only exception would be if he can still find in the attacking position the same effectiveness he shows there for Austria while a Dortmund player: in 31 internationals since 2023, Sabitzer has scored an impressive 13 goals. Before his BVB spell, it had been only six goals in 42 matches.

Marcel Sabitzer: his performance data at BVB

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