Sebastian Kehl: Borussia Dortmund would like to extend Youssoufa Moukoko’s contract

Borussia Dortmund’s incoming sporting director Sebastian Kehl has made it clear that they wish to extend Youssoufa Moukoko’s contract.

With the 2021/22 season coming to a conclusion soon, all eyes have shifted towards the summer transfer window and what additions clubs will make in the coming months. The turnover at Borussia Dortmund in terms of players and staff is set to be sizable.

The Black and Yellows bid farewell to Michael Zorc, Marcel Schmelzer, Axel Witsel, Erling Haaland and Dan-Axel Zagadou among others this past weekend. There may be even further upheaval in terms of personnel as Manuel Akanji will also not be extending his contract with the club.

Then there are players who face an uncertain future with the club. Most notably, the future of Youssoufa Moukoko has come into question in recent months. The Germany U-21s international is one of the most talented players to come from Dortmund’s academy in some time.

The prodigious young striker has long been earmarked to play a big role with Borussia Dortmund. However, since joining the first team he has not featured as much as he would have liked. This, coupled with bouts of injury problems, have almost certainly been points of frustration for the young striker.

Moukoko’s contract is set to expire in 2023, which would would mean that if the two parties fail to agree to an extension, he would be able to leave on a free next summer. Incoming BVB sporting director Sebastian Kehl however has stated that Dortmund have a clear intention to renew Moukoko’s contract.

In an interview with WAZ, Kehl commented both on Moukoko’s contract situation and added context to recent social media posts that seemed to suggest that the striker may perhaps be on his way out of Dortmund:

"“He apparently wanted to thank his departing colleagues. But there is no new status on his situation: he has a contract until 2023 and we would like to extend it.”"

Youssoufa Moukoko’s reaction after scoring in Dortmund’s final game of the season against Hertha Berlin may also point towards an extension; the player ran to celebrate with Michael Zorc, which in a way still shows that the player is grateful to the club for his development. Of course, body language and celebrations are perhaps not the best indication of what the future holds for Moukoko, but it is clear that Borussia Dortmund certainly have the young striker in their plans, and that given a little patience, he will very much still be an integral part of their future success on the pitch.