Borussia Dortmund’s U-19 striking sensation, Youssoufa Moukoko has been on fire in this season’s U-19 Bundesliga West league. He has scored 34 goals and contributed 9 assists in the 20 games they have played him this season. These numbers are extraordinary, even more so at the age of 15.
It is incredibly uncommon when we witness a 15-year-old tear up a league when there are players 4 years elder than him. His level of performance has drawn the attention of Dortmund’s fans and the management. There have been plenty of calls for him to be included in the first team.
Lucien Favre, towards the end of February, said, “We have a plan with him (Youssoufa Moukoko) but I can’t say exactly when he’ll join us. Maybe in March, but we still have to wait on a few things.”
Unfortunately, owing to the Coronavirus Pandemic, football training and games were paused for over two months. This meant that Lucien Favre’s plan of transitioning Moukoko to the first team has been delayed.
Recently, Michael Zorc confirmed that there is no immediate need to immerse him into the first team.
“The framework conditions for professional appearances by absolute exceptional players of this age has been created, but we are not putting any pressure on him at all. We do well not to raise expectations of Youssoufa too high.
“There will always be a decision on a case-by-case basis, which will not only be made on the basis of sporting skills, here physical and mental aspects, but also the personality of the player play a major role. We will all handle it very responsibly.”
