Marco Reus leaving Dortmund after 12 years with the club

Borussia Dortmund great Marco Reus will depart the club at the end of the season the 34-year-old announced on Friday. After joining the club in the summer of 2012, he’ll give his emotional farewell 12 years later.

Reus spoke to Dortmund supporters via social media to announce the news.

Marco Reus leaving Dortmund

A message from Marco. pic.twitter.com/gQCHG8AUOf

— Borussia Dortmund (@BlackYellow) May 3, 2024

A player staying at a club for such an extended period is a rarity in today’s age of the game. It feels that in present day there’s a persistent shuffle of players among the top clubs in the world. 

With Reus set to leave Dortmund we felt it was appropriate to flashback to summer 2012 when he joined the club. To truly give a scope of how long he’s been with the club, here were some other things going on in the world at the time.

Reus signed with Dortmund on Jan. 4, 2012, and officially joined on July 1.

What the world looked like when Reus joined Dortmund

“Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen was the No. 1 song

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Now that’s a throwback. Other songs on the Billboard Top 100 at the time of Reus’ signing were Maroon 5’s “Payphone”, Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used To Know” and “Lights” by Ellie Goulding.

The first Avengers movie topped the box office

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"The Avengers" was the summer blockbuster when Reus made his move to Dortmund. Other top movies of the time included "The Hunger Games", "Batman The Dark Night Rises" and "Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 2."

The London Summer Olympics started shortly after

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Mexico won the gold medal in men’s soccer and these two guys named Neymar and Mohamed Salah both scored three goals in the tournament. I wonder if they turned out to be any good.

Robin van Persie’s shocking transfer to Manchester United

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The most expensive signing during the summer window when Reus moved to Dortmund was RVP’s controversial move from Arsenal to Manchester United. The price tag? A measly 24 million pounds.

Erling Haaland turned 12

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Three weeks after Reus signed with Dortmund his future teammate and superstar Erling Haaland turned 12 years old. Haaland was playing with Bryne’s academy at the time.

Spain defeated Italy in the Euro 2012 final

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On the same day Reus officially joined Dortmund, Spain won the Euro for a second-time in a row destroying Italy 4-0. The final was played in Kyiv, Ukraine, and in the starting XI for Spain included Andrés Iniesta, Xavi, Sergio Busquets, Sergio Ramos, Iker Casillas, Xabi Alonso and Cesc Fábregas.

Time flies.