Dortmund sporting director Sebastian Kehl has revealed he wants to keep Chelsea midfielder Carney Chukwuemeka at the club.
The 21-year-old joined Dortmund on loan in February and made 16 appearances last season, scoring once.
Chukwuemeka was also part of Dortmund’s Club World Cup squad, with Chelsea extending his loan to cover the knockout stage.
With Dortmund losing in the quarter-finals to Real Madrid on Saturday, Chukwuemeka’s loan has now come to an end, but Kehl believes it might not be the last time he turns out in black and yellow.
“Carney’s loan ends today,” said Kehl, speaking on Saturday following Dortmund’s 3-2 defeat to Real in New Jersey.
“That was what we agreed with Chelsea. Now, let’s see. We will definitely have some more discussions in the next few days about his situation. I think it was a good move from Carney to join us.
“Now let’s see how we manage everything. It won’t be easy, but for sure we will try to keep him because he’s a very good player. This topic is something for the future, and right now I don’t know what will happen.”
Chelsea value Chukwuemeka at £40m, the same number as his release clause. That makes a permanent transfer difficult for Dortmund unless the asking price drops.
talkSPORT understands Dortmund are open to another loan, potentially with an option or obligation to buy, and that discussions on keeping Chukwuemeka beyond last season started in May.
“It’s always easier to loan a player than to buy one, especially within Carney’s [price] range. But let’s see,” said Kehl. “We are not that far advanced [in talks] at the moment, but I can tell you that we are pretty close to the player, and he loves Dortmund, so this is quite good. Everything else will be decided between Chelsea and us. That won’t be tomorrow. That won’t be on Tuesday. I think it will take some more days.”
Dortmund and Chelsea enjoy an excellent relationship and have already done business this summer. Jamie Gittens’ £52m switch to Chelsea was made official on Saturday, with the 20-year-old winger signing a seven-year contract.
Chelsea had originally wanted Gittens by June 10 so they could play him in the Club World Cup, but Dortmund held firm on their valuation. It resulted in the deal being agreed in late June, when Gittens was already cup tied for the tournament.
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“Jamie’s move is now done,” confirmed Kehl. “We held many discussions with Chelsea in recent weeks. We refused an offer on June 10, but now we have found an agreement.
“Jamie wanted to make that next step, and Chelsea will get a very professional and highly motivated young player, who still has lots of potential. We built him for five years here at Dortmund. He’s a great kid, and we wish him all the best.”
By reaching the quarter finals, Dortmund leave the Club World Cup with around £38m in prize money, not far off what they need to sign Chukwuemeka permanently, and more money than they budgeted for prior to the tournament.
This summer will see significant reinvestment into the playing squad as Dortmund look to bridge the gap on champions Bayern, who they finished a disappointing 25 points behind last season.
However, Dortmund still finished fourth, so have Champions League football to look forward to in 2025/26.
Some question whether Club World Cup entrants might have a tournament hangover heading into next season due to fatigue, but overall Kehl feels Dortmund’s time in America has been a success.
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“Assessing this tournament is a big question that touches on many different topics,” he said. “Firstly, we put in a great performance by reaching the quarter-finals. We were one of the best eight teams in the world again, after being one of the best eight in Europe in the Champions League. It was a sporting success from our side.
“And then there is the financial component. We didn’t budget with the quarter-finals in mind, so have brought in a little more income than planned. Now we’ll go away and think about how we spend that money ahead of the new season to increase the performance of our team.
“This tournament created many different topics of conversation. There’s the kick-off times, the weather and the pitch conditions. I think there are some things FIFA can work on ahead of the 2026 World Cup. But overall, It’s been a good tournament for us.
“You can see that even the stadiums are pretty full now. Bayern against PSG was full, and our game against Real Madrid was also almost full. The atmosphere is much higher than in the group-stage games, which is quite normal.
“We are pretty happy and proud that we could show the world again our ‘black and yellow’. Our colours are pretty known across the world, and we are always happy to show them off [in America].”
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