Speaking to Sport Bild, Ricken outlined four areas Dortmund need to address this summer: centre-back, central midfield, a winger and a striker. Defender Niklas Süle is leaving at the end of the season, while Emre Can faces an extended injury absence.
"We're looking for an attacking player who brings quality, can help us straight away and doesn't require a utopian transfer fee," Ricken said. "In defence, Niklas Süle is leaving us, Emre Can is out for a long time. So we're thinking about that too."
On Sancho, Ricken was candid. The 26-year-old England winger spent five years at Signal Iduna Park between 2017 and 2021 before his big-money move to Manchester United, and will be available for nothing this summer after his loan spell at Aston Villa concludes.
"We're currently looking at a lot of players and scrutinising them. We check whether they can make us better. We're doing that with Jadon too," Ricken confirmed.
Club president Hans-Joachim Watzke is said to be particularly enthusiastic about a reunion, though a potential shoulder injury Sancho suffered in a Villa friendly adds a note of caution.
The Guirassy situation is more complicated than Ricken let on. The 30-year-old Guinea international has scored 18 goals in 39 appearances this season and Sport Bild report he has already decided he wants to leave — directly contradicting his director's public stance.
"We hear every transfer window that he might leave, and he's still here," Ricken insisted.
What he cannot escape is the small print: Guirassy's contract contains a €35 million release clause activatable by selected top clubs from July, well below his market value. Fenerbahçe, AC Milan, Tottenham Hotspur and Saudi clubs have all been linked.
Ricken dismissed a reported loan interest in Newcastle United striker Nick Woltemade outright.
"That's the first I've heard of it," he said, adding that Dortmund are well covered in attack with Guirassy and Portuguese forward Fábio Silva already on the books.