Marco Reus Extends His Contract With Borussia Dortmund Until 2019

One of the best and most sought after midfielders in the world stays committed to his hometown and old club Borussia Dortmund. Marco Reus, 25, has announced that he has entered into a new contract that will see him stay with his club till 2019. Reus's deal is worth 6million pounds annually and with an additional 1.5m pounds a year to be spent on image rights would translate into a 145,000 pounds a week outgo for Borussia.

It's also an immense reposing of faith by the young German midfielder in a club that is currently placed at 16th in the Bundesliga and faces relegation. They are certainly out of the UEFA Champions Cup next season, although they will feature in the Round of 16 clash later this month by virtue of being in the top four in the Bundesliga previous year.

Borussia's descent has been rapid from being the winner of the Bundesliga and runners-up in the Champions League just three seasons ago. The exit of Mario Gotze and Robert Lewandowski after that badly punctured the club's strength. With Bayern Munich and other major clubs of Europe becoming a magnet for the young and talented, Marco Reus's decision to stay with Borussia is remarkable.

Real Madrid and Arsenal had evinced a lot of interest in Reus and were on the verge of activating the £20million release clause in his contract with Borussia till 2017.

Reus, though, had shown some interest in joining Barcelona but a FIFA transfer ban on the Catalan club, in force till 2016, scuttled any such move on the part of the German player.

Since the time of moving from Borussia Monchengladbach to Dortmund in 2012, Reus has made 72 appearances for his club and scored 34 goals. The 25-year old attacking mid-fielder made his debut at the international level in 2010 when he donned national colors in a match against Malta. He went on to represent Germany on 23 occasions and got 7 goals. He was an automatic choice for the 2014 FIFA World Cup squad, but an ankle injury kept him away from making a trip to Brazil.

Dortmund managing director Michael Zorc felt that Reus could fit into any team in the world, but his decision to stay meant that his heart is set on his hometown and home club. Club chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke went on to add that Reus could become an iconic player for Borussia Dortmund like Uwe Seeler for Hamburg and Steven Gerrard for Liverpool.

Let's wait as see how this extremely talented midfielder is able to influence his club's sagging fortunes.