I wouldn't say Dortmund were a tier 1 club, but they are a big club.
Calling them a small club was clearly wrong.
Dortmunds big problem is that they can't pay the wages a top club has to. They have a great core with homegrown or cheaply bought transfers, but like Kagawa, Götze, Lewandowski they simply want to get paid more and play at an even bigger club. Also they make so many mistakes in their contract negotiations. Reus has reportedly a buy out clause of "only" 30m€ after the 2013/2014 season. That's less than a 1/3 of the Bale fee and he is probably the better player
Next year Gündogan, Lewandowski and Reus could leave them in one summer. They have achieved great things in the last seasons but they still need some major work to become one of the clubs that will always remain in the picture like Real, Barca, Bayern or Us.
Why can't Fabregas end those speculations for good? Just have one interview that you love Barcelona, want to fight for your place and a transfer to United doesn't interest you so that even our dumb management knows that it's lost cause.