Borussia Dortmund chief Hans-Joachim Watzke admits they're still fighting off rival clubs for their best players.

Watzke concedes Mats Hummels was a step away from joining Manchester United last summer.

"In the spring, Hummels was joining Manchester United, (Henrikh) Mkhitaryan shortly afterwards was in Turin (Juventus) and (Ilkay) Gündogan at Bayern Munich. In the end they are all still here - and we have remained calm," recalled Watzke to Kicker.

"I'm pretty sure that it will be something like that again (in January). We will fight for every one of our stars with teeth and claws and can also compete financially."