Marco Reus and Mario Götze, the two highest-ranked players in the Bundesliga this season according to kicker magazine, will be team-mates next season! For BVB sporting director Michael Zorc, who pulled off the transfer coup, this is "a signal that we not only want to keep the team together but also strengthen it to establish ourselves at the top end."

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Hans-Joachim Watzke and Michael Zorc brought Marco Reus to BVB.

Borussia Dortmund secured the signing of Marco Reus (80 Bundesliga appearances, 28 goals for Borussia Mönchengladbach) after beating off competition from Real Madrid, FC Arsenal and Bayern Munich, according to media reports. "We held our own against high quality competition and we are happy that he has chosen to come to BVB," said Zorc on Thursday before the flight to Borussia Dortmund´s training camp in La Manga, Spain.

"Marco Reus is a player who can make a difference and he´s also a real Dortmund boy," said a pleased Hans-Joachim Watzke. The BVB chairman added: "The transfer is solidly funded by our reserves from the last couple of years." Watzke also said that Reus is missing out "on a lot of money" and that he "could have earned a lot more elsewhere". Michael Zorc said about the fee: "We made a transfer profit in the last year and we didn´t spend all of the money earned in the Champions League but kept our powder dry." Which gave the German champions the financial muscle to make a splash in the transfer market and sign Reus for 17 million euros, the seventh-biggest transfer in German football.

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Soon to be club team-mates as well: Germany internationals Götze and Reus (right). [pictures: firo]

"Marco is our absolute first-choice attacking player. He´s proven many times what he´s capable of and that in this case it actually makes sense to think about such amounts of money."

"I´ve made the decision to take the next step forward in the coming season. I´d like to play for a club who can challenge for the league title and guarantee me Champions League football. I see this chance in Dortmund," Reus told the Borussia Mönchengladbach website.

Born on 31 May 1989 in Dortmund, Marco Reus began playing football for local side Post SV Dortmund. He then played for BVB up the U17 level before moving to Rot-Weiss Ahlen where he helped the club win promotion to the second division. In 2009, he took the next step in his footballing career by joining Borussia Mönchengladbach, and on 7 October 2011 he won his first Germany cap against Turkey.