Reports: Sahin, Bender set for Dortmund return as assistant coaches

Former Borussia Dortmund players Nuri Sahin and Sven Bender are set to return to the Bundesliga club as assistant coaches, media reports said on Friday.

Dortmund have endured a roller-coaster first half of the campaign, thrilling in the Champions League but flattering to deceive in the Bundesliga.

Showdown talks before the mid-season break ended with coach Edin Terzic keeping his job, but it appears the Dortmund hierarchy decided he needed more help

Sahin, 35, has been coaching Turkish first-division club Antalyaspor since October 2021 but talks are already under way to let him join Dortmund, according to Antalyaspor deputy chairman Alkan Evren.

He was quoted as telling Turkish portal AA Sport: "We at Antalyaspor are sorry to lose a great coach like Nuri Sahin. But we are also proud that he has received an offer from a club like Borussia Dortmund."

Bild reported that Bender was also in line to join the club. Dortmund have not yet commented.

Sahin, who made his debut for Dortmund in 2005 at the age of 16 as the youngest player in the Bundesliga at the time, and the 34-year-old Bender (224 games for Dortmund) know each other from their spells at the club.

They also both became German champions with Dortmund together with current sporting director Sebastian Kehl in 2011.

They could now fly to a training camp in Marbella on January 3 as assistant coaches before Dortmund resume their season at lowly Darmstadt on January 13.