Reus will not leave Dortmund for money, insists Watzke

Borussia Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke is hopeful that the Bundesliga giants can hold on to Marco Reus amid ongoing rumours linking him with clubs such as Bayern Munich, Manchester United and Atletico Madrid.

The Germany international could be in line for a significant pay rise if he were to leave BVB for one of Europe's giants yet Watzke is confident that the 25-year-old is not the kind of player to let financial gains dictate his future.

"We will have to wait and see whether we can hold on to Marco but I know him really well and I can say that it's not about money for him," he told Der Westen.

"We will hold talks with him and the total package we can offer will be important. It's about finances, ambition and the faith we show in the player. I have the feeling that our players are happy at BVB. I didn't have the same feeling with the players who left us in the past - and that's an understatement."

Reus is a product of the Dortmund youth academy and Watzke believes that the versatile attacker is destined to become a club legend irrespective of winning silverware.

"People talk too much about winning titles. What I'm trying to say is that Marco Reus can mark an era as a Dortmund player. He can become a club legend," he enthused. "That's much more important than one or two more titles.

"Marco Reus can carry this club, his club, the club from his hometown. Why is Franz Beckenbauer such a legend in Munich? Wolfgang Overath, Uwe Seeler, Fritz Walter ... people still know where these guys played and what they achieved there in 100 years' time."

The former Borussia Monchengladbach attacker - who returned to Dortmund in 2012 - has a release clause in his contract that allows him to leave BVB for a reported €25 million (£20m) fee in the summer of 2015 and Watzke has stressed that the club had no other choice but to accept the player's wish at the time of his arrival.

"He joined Dortmund from Gladbach and perhaps people in his entourage told him that a release clause would allow him to leave if things didn't work out. We were not at the same level as now back
 then," the chief executive explained. 

"Right now, we would not include any release clauses but he insisted on having one. Marco had 10 offers or so and we had to compromise. He might have moved elsewhere had we not agreed on including a release clause.

"We will do our utmost to convince Marco that his future is at Dortmund. Plus he can win titles here at Dortmund, too."