EAST RUTHERFORD (dpa-AFX) - On the field, it was acceptable; off the field, a financial windfall; and looking ahead, a potential springboard: Borussia Dortmund's ambitions have been reignited by their Club World Cup campaign in the United States. Following a challenging Bundesliga season, BVB is determined to launch a renewed assault next season. Now more than 100 million euros richer, Dortmund's sporting director Sebastian Kehl made a bold transfer statement after the dramatic quarter-final elimination against Real Madrid.

"There will still be some activity in the transfer market," Kehl said after the 2-3 (0-2) defeat to Real Madrid in East Rutherford, near Manhattan. "We will definitely do something. We will make the squad better than last year."

Over 100 Million Euros in Revenue in Three Weeks

Kehl now has the necessary financial resources. In the USA, the team from North Rhine-Westphalia pocketed around 45 million euros in prize money. Additionally, just hours before Saturday's quarter-final, Kehl finalized the 65-million-euro sale of homegrown talent Jamie Gittens to Chelsea. The recent permanent sales of previously loaned Youssoufa Moukoko and Soumaila Coulibaly are set to bring in another approximately 12 million euros for BVB.

Even after deducting the approximately ten million euros in travel expenses for the US trip and three million euros in player bonuses, there is still plenty left over. Moreover, FIFA is expected to generously subsidize the costs with five million euros. BVB is well aware of the significance of being, alongside Bayern Munich, the second German club to benefit from FIFA's money-making machine.

"We do have a few advantages. But we've worked hard for them," Dortmund's marketing CEO Carsten Cramer told the German Press Agency. Cramer described it as a "luxurious situation" to be able to work for BVB.

He too was rubbing his hands with glee in the USA, celebrating a surge in global reach, over two million new social media followers, and a new kit deal with Puma that will bring in more than 300 million euros by 2034. "Our networks, our partners, the number of our fans, our digital reach, and of course our revenues are all getting bigger and bigger," Cramer said.

Ricken's Dig at Bayern

Sporting CEO Lars Ricken also flew back to Germany happy despite the defeat. "We're eighth in the European rankings, reached the Champions League quarter-finals, and are now among the top eight in the world. That's something to be proud of," Ricken told dpa, even taking a jab at Bayern Munich, who have recently pulled ahead of Dortmund domestically. "Internationally, no German team has been better than us in the past two years."

That's technically correct, given the 2024 Champions League final--also against Real (0-2). Still, BVB will need to do a lot to remain Bayern's main domestic rival in the long term. Despite the narrow scoreline against Xabi Alonso's Real Madrid, BVB were effectively out of the game for 90 minutes, until Maximilian Beier's stoppage-time goal made it 1-2 and sparked a wild seven minutes that saw a red card for Madrid's Dean Huijsen, a penalty for Dortmund, and two more goals.

Refreshingly Realistic Assessments from Kovac and Groß

In the end, Real keeper Thibaut Courtois saved his team from extra time with a brilliant stop against Marcel Sabitzer. "That wouldn't have been entirely fair," admitted BVB coach Kovac with refreshing honesty. The 53-year-old also criticized his team's first-half performance as "too slow and too static." This assessment applies to four of Dortmund's five games in the USA.

As much as BVB officials boasted about making the last eight at the Club World Cup--and thus being one of the world's top eight teams--national team player Pascal Groß put the sporting level in the USA into perspective: "You have to look at it realistically. I think the Bundesliga is still a different kind of football."

And despite the surge in global exposure BVB has enjoyed over the past three weeks, Saturday also made clear the gulf between the world's biggest club and the Westphalians. Of the nearly 77,000 spectators in the massive MetLife Stadium, almost all were Real fans--from all over the world. The global media interest in Los Blancos was also significantly greater than in BVB.

"We know what tasks still lie ahead of us in the world," Kehl commented. "We don't want to and can't compare ourselves to Real Madrid." But next season, they hope to at least be able to compete with Bayern once again./lap/DP/he