Ilkay Gundogan considering Borussia Dortmund contract extension

Dortmund had announced at the end of April that Gundogan, whose current deal ends in 2016, was set to leave the club after he told them he had decided against signing an extension.

However, Dortmund sporting director Michael Zorc said last week that they were keeping an open mind on the Germany international's future, and the club's CEO, Hans-Joachim Watzke, has now told Suddeutsche Zeitung: "There is a certain chance that Gundogan will renew his contract at BVB."

The newspaper also spoke to Ilkay Gundogan's uncle and agent, Ilhan, about the prospect of the midfielder prolonging his deal.

"If you had asked me last week I would have said that Ilkay will certainly leave Dortmund this summer, but now it is clearly an option to sign a new contract at Borussia," Ilhan Gundogan said, while confirming that his nephew had held a long phone conversation with new Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel.

"This was a very good discussion," he added. "Tuchel's plans for Borussia are so exciting that Ilkay is pondering them at the moment."

Talks are expected to begin in early November, Borussia Dortmund are set to offer him a new 4 year deal which will keep him at the club until 2020

Borussia Dortmund v Hannover: we began the month with a home game against lowly Hannover, it only took 15 minutes to assert our authority when Sokratis rose highest to head in a Marco Reus corner, Embolo made it 2-0 on 33 minutes to give them some breathing space.

Marvin Ducksch made his return from injury in on the hour mark and he capped off his return 17 minutes later with a goal that gave Dortmund a 3 goal buffer, Hannover would pull one back but it was too little too late

Borussia Dortmund v Koln Koln were lucky not to concede five here at Signal Iduna park, as they were camped in their half for most of the match, luckily they were somehow able to only concede the one which came from a Aubameyang penalty, Sven Bender was brought down in the box just as he attempted to get a shot off, Aubameyang made no mistake from the spot.

Bundesliga

Bayern Munich are now starting to pull away as expected and now have a 6 point buffer over second place Borussia Dortmund who finished the month with 3 wins from 3, though it may be early in the season, it doesnt look like Bayern will be caught.

Hannover are still rooted to the foot of the table with another month of unconvincing results, Monchengladbach are in 17th but should have the quality to climb the ladder in the coming months

Europa League

At the halfway point of the groupstage Borussia Dortmund lead the group with 7 points and are only one win away from securing qualification, its a real shootout for second place though between Panathanaikos and Salzburg, both sides will be gunning for the win when they face off next, and as expected Sion are sitting bottom of the group and will most probably stay that way

Reus: Dortmund have the potential to win Europa League

Thomas Tuchel has enjoyed a fantastic start at BVB, and the 26-year-old attacker believes that a European trophy is well within reach as they host Red Bull Salzburg in Group F

Marco Reus is eyeing Europa League glory with Borussia Dortmund as they find themselves competing in Europe's second-tier competition this term, following a lacklustre campaign last time around.

But they have enjoyed a fresh lease of life under coach Thomas Tuchel, with the former Mainz coach overseeing 9 games without defeat in all competitions, Dortmund have won 2 of their 3 matches so far in the Europa League and a win away to Sion on matchday 4 will see them all but progress to the knockout stages of the competition

Teams dropping out of the Champions League could then hinder Dortmund's ambitions but Reus believes his on-form team-mates have the capacity to lift the trophy.

"I think we have the potential," he said during a fans Q&A on the Uefa Europa League Facebook page.

"But after the group stage we will meet even stronger opponents. Then, it could come down to the form you have on that specific day.

"But we have the potential and really want to go to the final."

Reus joined a Dortmund side that had won back-to-back Bundesliga titles under Jurgen Klopp in 2012 and remains at the club despite seeing other star names such as Mario Gotze and Robert Lewandowski depart.

Nevertheless, the 26-year-old Germany international, who has been plagued by injury problems over the past two seasons, revealed that he has a long-standing admiration for one of European football's established superpowers.

"In my childhood I always played as Barcelona on the PlayStation," he added.

"That's because they have players of such extremely high quality and they play with a fantastic style as well, hopefully they wont drop into the Europa League"

November

Results

November kicked off with a 2-2 draw away from home against Hamburg, Mkhitaryan and Gundogan gave us a 2-0 lead, but not for the first time, Dortmund conceded late, this time it was two in the final 10 minutes, which meant Dortmund only left with a point[.

Dortmund then welcomed newly promoted Ingolstadt and it was one way traffic from start to finish, Pierre Emerick Aubameyang scored a first half hattrick which he rounded off with a penalty on the stroke of halftime, Mats Hummels was also on the scoresheet, for the 3rd time this season.

Next was an away trip to Augsburg, both sides looked as though they were scared to go and attack in fear they might concede on the break, it ended up being a very drab affair and ended 0-0

Dortmund rounded off the month with a very good 3-1 win against a Wolfsburg side struggling for any kind of consistency, German wonderkid Julian Weigl bagged a brace with goals in the 10th and 43rd minute in a man of the match performance, Aubameyang was also on the scoresheet which meant hes now scored 13 goals in 14 Bundesliga games

Bundesliga

Bayern Munich have retained their 6 point lead at the top of the Bundesliga with two wins and two draws from their four games this month, Borussia Dortmund are just about keeping in touch with Bayern after matching their results during November.

At the other end of the table, a poor month for Hertha Berlin means they've dropped into the relegation zone after only picking up 4 points, Monchengladbach though have moved out of the bottom three after having their best month thus far, Hannover are still stuck at the bottom and it looks like only a minor miracle will see them avoid the drop

Injury Report

Marco Reus- currently receiving specialist treatment for a broken ankle, expected to be out for between 6 and 8 weeks

Marvin Ducksch - currently undergoing treatment on a twisted knee, expected to be out for 8 - 12 days

Borussia Dortmund may look to sign striker this summer - Michael Zorc

Borussia Dortmund sporting director Michael Zorc says the club could bolster their strike force during the January transfer window

Dortmund are short on attacking options having loaned Ciro Immobile to Sevilla, the Italian looked out of sorts in Dortmund but his departure means the club are reliant on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, 26 because of the injury to Adrian Ramos, Marvin Ducksch has only played a bit part so far having only just recovered from injury

But at a news conference on Monday, Zorc said they will offer manager Thomas Tuchel support by getting another forward in.



"We never said we wouldn't sign another striker after letting Ciro Immobile go," he told reporters. "It's not imperative that we sign another striker.

"Obviously it's something we're continuing to discuss. We'll keep looking at the market but it has to make absolute sense.

"We're counting on Adrian [Ramos] coming back soon and Auba [Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang] is in outstanding form up front. But we don't have to rule anything out. We'll take a look at it ... There's still a bit of time to looks at available options."

Gabon international Aubameyang is Dortmund's top scorer with 16 goals in all competitions this season and the club may offer him a pay rise to ward off reported interest from Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain.