Borussia Dortmund's New Dimension: Konstantelias and Karetsas Shine
The roar inside Signal Iduna Park had barely died down when the bad news landed. Borussia Dortmund’s new magician had lit up the night, then disappeared from the stage almost as quickly as he arrived.
A new dimension in black and yellow
“They are two lads who can bring us a different dimension here,” Niko Kovac said on Sky after the 2–0 win over Hamburger SV. He didn’t have to spell out who he meant. Giannis Konstantelias and Konstantinos Karetsas had just turned their first Bundesliga minutes into a statement.
This was the kind of football Dortmund fans crave but haven’t seen often enough lately: sharp, daring, and ruthless with the ball. Not showboating, but risk with a purpose. The kind that wins games and ignites a stadium.
Kovac had hinted at it before kick-off. The squad, he said, now had players who could deliver the “spectacular things” so many demand. Against HSV, that promise came to life.
Konstantelias and Karetsas, both new arrivals from smaller European leagues, showed why Dortmund bet big on them. They can do almost everything Julian Brandt once did in that role. The difference? They accelerate games from a standing start. They break lines without a run-up. Between the opposition’s midfield and defence, where matches are often decided, they constantly sparked new attacking situations out of nothing.
Konstantelias lights it up
For 45 minutes, HSV chased shadows. Dortmund’s two Greeks dictated the tempo, drifting, rotating, and always popping up in the spaces Hamburg could never quite close.
Konstantelias had already hinted at this level in the Super Cup defeat to Bayern Munich. On Saturday, he confirmed it. His close control at full speed stood out immediately, as did his balance and the way he glided through challenges. Off the ball, he snapped into duels, pressing with real bite. One ball win in midfield around the half-hour mark drew a roar from the crowd that felt more like appreciation than surprise.
Then came the finish that should have crowned his evening.
Just before the break, Konstantelias made it 2–0 and marked his first Bundesliga goal for Dortmund. The move fizzed with imagination. The Greece international shaped for the near corner, hit a no-look effort, and a deflection off a Hamburg defender wrong-footed the keeper. Fortune helped, but the idea was all his.
“First half, top – that was perfect. We implemented everything we wanted to implement,” defensive leader Waldemar Anton told Sky. He knew who had driven that perfection.
After barely 100 minutes in a Dortmund shirt, Konstantelias already looked like a future crowd favourite. The bond with the Yellow Wall felt natural, almost inevitable.
Then, less than 24 hours later, came the diagnosis.
From euphoria to devastation
On Sunday, Dortmund confirmed what many had feared on Saturday night: a cruciate ligament tear on his league debut. Months on the sidelines. Season effectively gone.
“This news hits us very hard because Giannis has already shown in a very short time why we see him as a great player for Borussia Dortmund,” said sporting managing director Lars Ricken. “For now, however, his focus and ours is on his recovery. Giannis has our full support in that.”
Kovac had already sounded worried after the match. “We have to talk about something more serious there,” he admitted. “We will have the examination on Sunday. But at least it doesn’t sound good, from what the doctor told me.”
The incident itself looked innocuous. Shortly after narrowly missing his second goal of the evening, Konstantelias twisted his knee awkwardly in a challenge. He went down, stayed down, and when he left the pitch in the 54th minute, his expression said more than any scan could.
For a player who had just transformed Dortmund’s attack, the blow is brutal. For BVB, it is no less severe.
The 26-million-euro signing had already proven he raises the level of this team. With him, the attack buzzed. Without him, the second half against HSV told its own story. Hamburg improved, yes, but Dortmund also lost fluency and unpredictability the moment Konstantelias stepped off.
“When Dortmund play from right to left, play into the spaces in between, then first of all you do a lot of chasing and don’t really manage to get into the press. That was our problem,” HSV captain Nicolai Remberg said on Sky. He was describing the chaos Konstantelias and Karetsas created between the lines.
Two Greeks, one broken partnership
Together, the two new playmakers had tortured HSV. They drifted between positions, took the ball under pressure, and turned tight pockets into open highways. Every touch seemed to speed the game up and sharpen Dortmund’s attacks.
“Brutal,” Anton called their performance. “The mobility they have, how dangerous they are – that is a huge quality at that age and it is something we need for the future as well. I’m glad we have them with us.”
That “we” now comes with an asterisk. Karetsas, for the foreseeable future, has lost his perfect partner.
From Dortmund’s point of view, the question is immediate and uncomfortable: who replaces Konstantelias?
“I felt incredibly sorry for the lad,” said sporting director Ole Book. “From day one here he has had a terrific presence, also in the dressing room. We all already like him very much.” Book had watched the injury to the attacking midfielder he had pushed so hard to sign with obvious concern.
On Saturday, Kovac reacted by bringing on Marcel Sabitzer, a more defensive-minded option. The Austrian did his job, but he cannot mimic Konstantelias’ flair and risk on the ball. Profile-wise, Samuele Inacio would be the closest like-for-like. The 18-year-old showed his inexperience with a lightning red card against HSV, though, and the question of whether he is ready to carry that creative burden at this stage is open.
Maximilian Beier is the more seasoned alternative, but using him centrally would force Kovac to abandon his plan of deploying the Germany international on one of the flanks. That would solve one problem and create another.
Transfer window tension – and the Sancho question
Time is not on Dortmund’s side. The summer transfer window closes on Tuesday, 1 September, at 8 p.m. The club had not planned any late moves. That stance may now be under review.
“Depending on how serious the injury actually is, we will shape our further steps accordingly. But one thing is certain: over the next three days we are not planning anything,” Ricken said before the diagnosis became official. The seriousness is no longer in doubt.
The list of realistic options is short. Said El Mala, the player Dortmund had originally targeted before turning to Konstantelias, has extended his contract at 1. FC Cologne and is off the market.
So one familiar name inevitably drifts back into view: Jadon Sancho.
On paper, he fits. Like Konstantelias and Karetsas, Sancho can inject tempo from a standing start, break lines with the ball at his feet, and operate between the lines or from wide areas. Speculation about a third spell at BVB had cooled after the arrivals of the two Greeks. The situation has changed.
Sancho’s best football came in Dortmund colours. Since leaving Manchester United as a free agent, the 26-year-old has yet to find a new club and would cost no transfer fee. Financially, the risk looks manageable, provided he accepts a significant pay cut.
The sporting risk is harder to read. His recent loans to Chelsea and Aston Villa were largely disappointing. The question is no longer what he once was, but what he can still be.
Dortmund have found a new dimension in Konstantelias – and lost it again in the space of a week. With the window ticking down and ambitions high, they now have to decide: trust the squad to grow around Karetsas and the youngsters, or roll the dice on a familiar face to keep their season’s attacking blueprint intact.
