Opinion: Yousoufa Moukoko’s minutes are too limited for Borussia Dortmund

Youssoufa Moukoko made a cameo appearance in Borussia Dortmund’s win over Hoffenheim, but the substitution came far too late in the game.

Borussia Dortmund’s Youssoufa Moukoko has been a talking point whenever the club has come up in conversation for several months now. The German Youth international joined Die Schwarzgelben‘s first team after his emphatic exploits while plying is trade in Dortmund’s youth setup. He’s regarded as one of the next big players for the club, despite his young age.

Since becoming part of the senior squad however, Moukoko’s minutes have been limited due to a variety of reasons. Initially, the player found it hard to get game time due to Erling Haaland’s presence at the club. Haaland was, unsurprisingly, undroppable for most of his time with Dortmund. Moukoko also had to deal with injury issues that kept him out for long stretches of the previous season under Marco Rose.

With Haaland’s departure and Sébastien Haller’s unfortunate bout with illness, one would expect that Moukoko would be primed to get more time on the pitch. Even with the club brining in Anthony Modeste on a year long contract, the move is meant to support Moukoko’s development, and to show that the club put stock in him for the not so distant future. This should have amounted to more game time than the 97 minutes he’s had in the Bundesliga so far.

The crux in all of this also comes down to Moukoko being Modeste’s main alternative. Taking the Hoffenheim game as an example, Moukoko was brought in for Marco Reus in the closing minutes after Edin Terzić had allowed Modeste to stay on the field for the majority of the game. Modeste’s play was ineffectual at best throughout his appearance, with the Frenchman missing clear chances from situations that were clearly not set up to highlight his best attributes on the pitch.

The situations in question were chances that required pace, agility, and the ability to take players one on one to truly capitalize on. These situations in many ways were scenarios that Moukoko might have been able to perform in, especially considering the youngster’s play style.

Moukoko’s lack of minutes on the pitch is baffling not only from a tactical standpoint, but also from a contract standpoint. The player’s contract is set to run out next year, and Moukoko himself has not yet committed to signing an extension. This lack of minutes does not paint a picture for the player highlighting him as a protagonist in Dortmund’s attack going forward. This lack of minutes may indeed work to jeopardize any semblance of this having a chance of being both Dortmund’s and Moukoko’s reality.

The fact of the matter is that the lack of minutes that Moukoko has been faced with could come back to bite both the player and the club. Of course, there may be factors that we don’t see, be it in training or otherwise, that may be swaying  Terzić’s opinion towards playing Modeste. Moukoko, in his appearances however, has shown that he is capable of making a difference. His performances surely warrant a longer stint on the pitch than what he’s been offered so far.