Sahin and Bender return to Dortmund as assistant coaches

Former Borussia Dortmund players Nuri Sahin and Sven Bender are returning to the Bundesliga club as assistant coaches.

A Dortmund statement on Friday said the retired players will receive a contract until June 2025. Assistant coach Armin Reutershahn, 63, is leaving at his own request.

Dortmund have endured a roller-coaster first half of the campaign, thrilling in the Champions League but flattering to deceive in the Bundesliga having come so close to the title last term. They are four games without a win in the league.

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.

Terzic said: "It was my clear wish to get Nuri and Sven as assistants. We have tried several times in the past to turn this wish into reality."

Sahin, 35, has been coaching Turkish first-division club Antalyaspor since October 2021 but talks to let him join Dortmund are completed, 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."

Ex-Turkey midfielder Sahin said in Dortmund's statement: "It was not an easy decision to give up the position at Antalyaspor after more than two years, as we have built something special. But when Dortmund ask, I can't say no."

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.

Bender, who had been working for the German Football Federation, said: "I've been talking to Edin Terzic for some time now and know what makes him tick as a coach. When I was asked if I could imagine becoming an assistant at Dortmund, I thought about it and finally decided that I absolutely had to be in black and yellow again."