Only Dortmund keeping Haaland and Sancho can end Bayern's Bundesliga dominance

The social media responses to this article will be as predictable as they are boring.

"Farmers' league."

That is how many people, not just the select few who tweet about football constantly, see the Bundesliga: predictable and boring.

As if to back up their argument, Bayern Munich have just won their ninth league title in a row.

No other club has had its hands on the Meisterschale since Jurgen Klopp guided Borussia Dortmund to the title in 2012.

Sure, there have been title races in recent years, but the end result has been the same: Bayern crowned as champions.

This season's title race has ended officially, but for many outside observers, it was over before a ball was kicked in the 2020-21 season.

Next year is unlikely to be any different either, with Bayern already planning on how best to go about winning their 10th league title in a row.

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The Bavarians agreed a €42.5 million (£37m/$52m) deal for defender Dayot Upamecano in February and have followed up by appointing Julian Nagelsmann as their next head coach.

Those two moves have greatly weakened this season's closest challengers, RB Leipzig, who also look set to see Upamecano's centre-back partner Ibrahima Konate join Liverpool, a year after selling top scorer Timo Werner to Chelsea.

Leipzig have, to their credit, moved to replace both Upamecano and Konate, having already signed Mohamed Simakan and Josko Gvardiol, who both look ready to make the step up.

Incoming head coach Jesse Marsch is also ready for the new chapter in his career, becoming the latest product from the Red Bull conveyor belt to end up in Leipzig.

Salzburg and Leipzig have been very good at producing players and coaches, but most have delivered the finish product elsewhere, and their export model will impede Leipzig's chances of ever unseating Bayern at the top of the Bundesliga.

Only Borussia Dortmund have halted the Bayern machine since 2009-10, and they also were the only team to take the title race to the last day in any of the last nine seasons.

This campaign, though, poor form under Lucien Favre torpedoed Dortmund's chances of putting pressure on Bayern, but interim head coach Edin Terzic has since steadied the ship and also helped BVB reach the DFB-Pokal final.

Terzic has been boosted by the form of Jadon Sancho, who has looked back to his best after a slow start to the season and has four goals and four assists in five games during that cup run, as well as 19 goal involvements (eight goals, of which two came in Saturday's 3-2 win over Leipzig that secured the title for Bayern, and 11 assists) in 24 league games.

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While Sancho has starred in the cup, Erling Haaland has shone in the Bundesliga and the Champions League, with the unstoppable Norwegian scoring 37 goals in 38 appearances in all competitions this term after netting 16 in 18 for BVB in 2019-20.

Sancho and Haaland are two of the top five talents in the Bundesliga, as well as two of the best young players in world football.

Losing one or both would be disastrous for Dortmund, especially if they want to ever challenge for the Bundesliga under incoming coach Marco Rose.

Another product of Red Bull, having won the Austrian double at Salzburg, Rose has excelled at Borussia Monchengladbach, with fans claiming they would have built him a statue had he turned down Dortmund to stay at Gladbach.

Instead, Rose will inherit an exciting young squad at Signal Iduna Park, taking charge of teenagers Jude Bellingham, Gio Reyna, Youssoufa Moukoko and Ansgar Knauff.

He may have Haaland and Sancho too, but only if Dortmund can keep Europe's elite from moving for their mega stars.

Sporting director Michael Zorc held firm last summer as Manchester United courted Sancho, and may be only willing to part with the England winger for a fee of around €90m (£78m/$109m) in 2021.

United did not meet Dortmund's demands last summer, and Zorc admits that Sancho can leave, but only if certain requirements are met.

"We already had a gentlemen's agreement with Jadon last year that he can switch under certain conditions," Zorc told ARD.

"He's been with us for a couple of years. However, this agreement does not exist with Erling."

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Haaland has been touted to the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Premier League giants Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool by agent Mino Raiola.

Dortmund insist he is not for sale at any price, but a reported release clause of €75 million ($90m/£65m) kicks in in 2022 and Raiola believes an astronomical bid this summer could tempt them to sell.

CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke says Sancho can leave for "an exceptional offer" but is adamant that is not the case with Haaland despite Raiola's claims.

"We do not have a parallel plan. We will discuss this with Erling, his father and his agent Mino Raiola," Watzke told Goal and DAZN. "We also want him to be happy to stay with us, to score goals for BVB next year with conviction. There is no alternative plan."

Former Dortmund midfielder Nuri Sahin is also confident that Dortmund can retain Haaland's services, at least for one more season as long as Champions League football is ensured via a top-four finish that is not yet secured.

"As a fan of Dortmund, I hope he will stay! But it’s his decision," Sahin told Goal. 

"There are many people around him who are speaking and helping, showing him the pros and cons of staying at Dortmund, but in the end he will decide if he will stay or not.

"He still has a contract for a few more years, and if Dortmund don’t want to let him go, they will make that clear.

"I don’t see a big problem, to be honest. I think Dortmund will get the Champions League and Haaland will stay at least one more year, and then everyone will be happy."

Keeping both Haaland and Sancho would send a huge message to Rose that the club believe he can be the man to end Bayern's Bundesliga dominance, as no other club can boast players of their talent in the German top flight.

Without Haaland and Sancho at BVB next season, though, the Bundesliga would be set for another predictable and boring title race.

Additional reporting by Neil Jones