Borussia Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke wasted no time at all this weekend.
No sooner had his team lost a gruelling a title race to Bayern Munich than Watzke was upping the ante ahead of next season.
'We want to challenge for the title next year, no ifs, no buts,' he said on Tuesday.
Borussia Dortmund announce the signing of Julian Brandt from Bayer Leverkusen this week
The arrival of Thorgan Hazard from Borussia Monchengladbach is announced on Instagram
Nico Schulz arrived this week from Bundesliga rivals Hoffenheim, solving a left-back issue
Dortmund's rollercoaster season, in which they took a nine-point lead over Bayern in December before losing the title on the last day, has given them the tiniest taste of success, and now they want more.
With cup finalists RB Leipzig also snapping at their heels, they can also no longer rest on their status as perennial runners-up.
'We are the only second power in German football,' insisted Watzke on Tuesday, promising that Dortmund would be 'more ambitious' and 'more aggressive' in the years to come.
And what better way to show off your ambition and aggression than signing three of the league's best players?
In the space of two days this week, Dortmund announced three major signings, each of around £25m.
Dortmund also made permanent the loan signing of Barcelona striker Paco Alcacer
Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke has stated his intent to challenge for the title next year
The Bundesliga title race went down to the final afternoon before Dortmund lost out to Bayern
On Tuesday, hard-working wing-back Nico Schulz joined from Hoffenheim, apparently solving Dortmund's long-standing left-back problem.
A day later, Eden Hazard's younger brother Thorgan completed his much anticipated move from Borussia Monchengladbach and, just to ram home the point, Dortmund then announced the signing of Julian Brandt from Bayer Leverkusen.
None of the three transfers came out of the blue, but the speed with which they were announced certainly felt like a statement.
In Hoffenheim, Gladbach and Leverkusen, Dortmund had raided a top player from three of their biggest rivals in recent years.
They used to say that Bayern were guilty of buying the Bundesliga to death, but now it seems Dortmund are in on the act too.
They always were, of course. From Marco Reus to Mahmoud Dahoud, Dortmund's transfer policy has, in some ways even more than Bayern's, always relied on
