Who is new Borussia Dortmund sporting director Ole Book?
Borussia Dortmund have named former Elversberg executive Oli Book as Sebastian Kehl's successor. Here's what you need to know about the 40-year-old...
The news of Sebastian Kehl's departure as Dortmund sporting director came as a shock to many in Germany. What was less shocking, however, was who the club chose to replace the BVB legend.
Despite never operating as a sporting director for a top-flight club, Book's reputation is stellar in club football - and deservedly so.
During his time at Elversberg, he took the club from the fourth tier of German football to a Bundesliga promotion play-off last season. His skill for spotting burgeoning talent saw him bring the likes of Nick Woltemade, Fisnik Asllani and Paul Wanner to Elversberg on loan. Each player went on to make the step up to the Bundesliga in the years that followed - and now Book is following suit.
Following a playing career that saw him represent Rot Weiss Ahlen, Duisburg and Wehen Wiesbaden, Book's career off the pitch began in earnest in 2017.
That year, he joined Elversberg as a scout while the side were still in the Regionalliga (the fourth tier of German football). By 2018, he assumed the role of sporting director at the Saarland club, and would, over the coming seasons, help transform their fortunes well beyond the expectations of any fan.
In the 2021/22 and 2022/23 seasons, Elversberg achieved back-to-back promotions, taking them to Bundesliga 2 for the very first time. The historic achievement was, in no small part, thanks to Book's peerless recruitment over the preceding five years.
In the summer of 2022, Woltemade arrived on loan, alongside Lukas Pinckert. The former would score 10 goals that season, with the latter going on to become club captain - a position he holds to this day.
The following summer, by which time Book had become the club's sporting CEO, then Bayern Munich youngster Wanner arrived on loan and would chip in with nine goal involvements across 28 Bundesliga 2 matches.
His reputation as a 'pearl diver' of footballing talent was only solidified further in 2024, when he signed a youngster by the name of Younes Ebnoutalib from four-tier side Gießen.
Watch: Younes Ebnoutalib's BL2 goals
After a quiet start to life at Elversberg, Ebnoutalib burst onto the scene earlier this season, with 12 goals in just 17 Bundesliga 2 appearances, before moving to Frankfurt in the new year.
Book's time at Elversberg has been nothing short of remarkable. While the club just missed out on promotion to the Bundesliga last season, it was the recruitment of Book and his team that put the side in that position.
At the time of Book's departure, Elversberg currently sit second in the Bundesliga 2 table. While promotion is far from guaranteed, he leaves head coach Vincent Wagner in a strong position approaching the final months of the campaign. As for Book, a new chapter now awaits at Dortmund, where he will start work on 25 March.
“We’ve been able to bring in our desired candidate for the role of sporting director in Ole. I’ve been following his outstanding work at Elversberg for a long time and am firmly convinced that Ole is the right fit for us in a professional and personal sense,” said Dortmund managing director for sport Lars Ricken of the man chosen to replace Kehl, who departed the club on Sunday.
“With him [Book] in charge, Elversberg have made the step up to the second division, producing lots of young players along the way and creating value for the squad. We’ve got great trust in Ole and his expertise to find creative and courageous ideas in the transfer market,” Ricken added.
Book's meteoric rise from the fourth tier of German football to the Bundesliga is a modern-day footballing fairy-tale. Dortmund fans will now be hoping he can work another miracle and help bring the Meisterschale back to Signal Iduna Park for the first time since 2012.
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