Even Borussia Dortmund supporters who usually aren't fond of Mondays will have liked the last one, as the Ruhr side pretty much confirmed they are football's first stop for promising talent.
First, they announced the deal of 17-year-old centre-forward Alexander Isak from Swedish side AIK Solna -- a deal Real Madrid thought they had in the bag according to reports. Later that day, they let everyone know -- Liverpool in particular -- that America's hottest talent, 18-year-old Christian Pulisic, penned a new deal, tying him to the club until 2020.
That both these enormously talented youngsters see Dortmund as the place to be to continue their development. The handful of key players Dortmund have lost throughout the years all have one thing in common: they moved on to clubs considered to be in Europe's elite in either sporting success or reputation, and sometimes both.
Since 2011, Nuri Sahin, Shinji Kagawa, Mario Gotze, Robert Lewandowski, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Ilkay Gundogan and Mats Hummels all started out as prospects at Dortmund and were exported to Real Madrid, Manchester United, Manchester City and Bayern Munich as ready-made stars. While the club would have preferred to hold on to each of the players in the first place -- and the first three have returned since -- it allowed BVB to build their reputation of moulding talent into international class.
Along the way, Dortmund managed to persuade a long list of talented youngsters to put their hopes into the hands of Jurgen Klopp and Thomas Tuchel. While there was an Adnan Januzaj to each Julian Weigl, as the list of promising signings that didn't succeed arguably matches the one of which found success, the allure of Dortmund as a development ground grew to the point that the club could align their strategy accordingly in the summer.
After losing Mkhitaryan, Hummels and Gundogan, Dortmund realised they couldn't replace their key players with those of the same calibre and around the same age and opted to spend the extra cash on a rejuvenation with Europe's hottest rising talents instead.
Neither CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke nor sporting director Michael Zorc were coy on repeatedly pointing out that then-18-year-olds Ousmane Dembele and Emre Mor, along with 23-year-old Raphael Guerreiro, joined the Ruhr side despite offers from arguably even more illustrious clubs in the summer.
Although Dortmund have already fallen 12 points behind league leaders Bayern Munich and are currently not in a spot that guarantees them direct qualification for the Champions League, they will feel reaffirmed in their methods. Both Dembele and Guerreiro are already indispensable after one half season, while 18-year-olds Pulisic and Felix Passlack are having their breakout years.
Because of the arrivals of Andre Schurrle, Gotze, Mor and Dembele, Pulisic had second thoughts on whether Dortmund would still be the best club for him, but 19 appearances in 26 games shows the confidence Tuchel has in the prodigy.
So understandably, it is reaffirming for the club that half a year later, one of their biggest prospects happily extended his contract.
"I still need to learn a lot," Pulisic said on the club's official website. "I have the best conditions for it here at Dortmund, and I have the chance to play in front of over 80,000 people. We have the best fans in the world. It can't get better than this."
"That's a big success for us," Watzke said on kicker.tv on Monday regarding Pulisic's contract extension.
"Half of Premier League is owned by Americans, and they could all imagine [to sign him] with the U.S. market and because he's an outstanding player."
And the arrival of Isak very much confirms that BVB are currently the most desirable club for elite prospects. The Swedish centre-forward had a signature-ready contract from Real Madrid in front of him, but was still be persuaded to join the Black and Yellows.
"It is by far the biggest transfer in Sweden since Zlatan left for Ajax in 2001," Aftonbladet journalist Per Bohman told ESPN FC.
Dortmund had to splash €10 million to acquire the 17-year-old, reinvesting the money they received for 31-year-old backup striker Adrian Ramos, who joined Chongqing Lifan. For Dortmund, that is still a sizeable chunk of money, considering there is no guarantee that Isak will blossom.
"It's a pleasure to have him here," Tuchel said on Wednesday after Isak's first training session in Dortmund.
"He is a very strong centre-forward who also plays a good passing game and gets goals. He can also play with his back to goal. The transfer makes total sense and allows the club to plan with certainty going into the long-term future."
Dortmund seem set for the future. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Gotze, Guerreiro, Marc Bartra, Sebastian and Pulisic, Schurrle, Weigl, Dembele, Sven Bender, Marcel Schmelzer, Mor and Mikel Merino are under contract until 2020 or longer without any release clauses.
With that, the club can be very optimistic about their squad going into the next two campaigns. However, chances are that Dortmund fans won't get to see most of their now talented youngsters in their primes.
Pulisic could have signed a deal until 2021, but instead "only" added another year to his contract that was valid until 2019. It will ensure Dortmund that the U.S. international will hang around for their trip to the United States in 2018, but also signals that players are ready to move on as soon as they reach the next level. That is the downside of being the wunderkind academy. But for the club it is the only way until they can purchase fully developed players in their prime.