Bundesliga football club Borussia Dortmund can continue to count on one of the strongest goalkeepers in Europe: Gregor Kobel, 25, who has been the No. 1 between the sticks for the eight-time German champions for the past two years, prematurely extended his contract with BVB on Thursday morning by two further years until 30 June 2028.

"Gregor Kobel's sporting development in recent years has deeply impressed us all. His signing of this long-term contract is a sign of great commitment to BVB," remarked Hans-Joachim Watzke (Chairman of the Board of Management).

"In Dortmund, Gregor has developed into a goalkeeper of world-class calibre who has attracted the interest of many top clubs in Europe. We're proud that we were able to inspire him to continue at BVB despite all his options," said Borussia Dortmund's sporting director Sebastian Kehl, adding: "We now have long-term planning security at the highest level for an immensely important position. In sporting terms, Gregor is synonymous with an unconditional will to win. The drive to always keep developing himself and his goalkeeping game is deeply entrenched in him. And beyond that, he is simply a great guy who enriches any team on a personal level too."

Kobel, who was born in Zürich, joined Borussia from VfB Stuttgart in the summer of 2021, succeeded his compatriot Roman Bürki in Dortmund and has made 84 competitive appearances for BVB to date. In the summer, both his professional colleagues in the Bundesliga and the specialist magazine "kicker" voted Kobel as the best goalkeeper of the 2022/23 season, in which he saved 74% of all attempts at his goal and kept 11 clean sheets in total.

Gregor Kobel said: "I'm a totally emotional guy, Dortmund is a crazily emotional footballing location and Signal Iduna Park is an incredibly emotional stadium. I think we're simply a really good fit. Beyond that, I have the feeling that I'm simply not finished here yet! This team has the potential to win titles if every individual works hard on themselves. In the coming years, I want to be one of the players in our squad who leads the way every day so that we can celebrate something big together."