Sebastian Kehl: Borussia Dortmund “believes in Youssoufa Moukoko”

Borussia Dortmund’s Sebastian Kehl comments on Youssoufa Moukoko’s current situation with the club in a new WAZ interview.

So far this season, Borussia Dortmund’s Youssoufa Moukoko has been at the center of a frustrating conundrum for both club and player alike. The Dortmund youth academy product and Germany international has been one of the clubs most highly regarded talents; a fact that goes back to his days in the academy, with the player scoring an immense amount of goals at youth level.

These performances prompted Dortmund to promote the youngster to the first team. A few seasons on from his debut, Moukoko has yet to nail down a starting position in his side, and in this season in particular, has seen his minutes severely limited by the signing of Niclas Füllkrug. This lack of minutes had led to speculation surrounding the young strikers future in black and yellow

Contrary to what has been speculated in the media, Sporting Director Sebastian Kehl has come out and stated that there are no plans of separation this coming winter:

"“Neither the club nor Youssoufa are thinking about the winter now. We had very open talks in the summer after signing Niclas Füllkrug. We know what we have in Youssoufa, of course he hopes for more playing time”"

This craving for more minutes is a challenge that Moukoko accepts, according to Kehl:

"“With Youssoufa, I can say he accepts it 100 percent, puts in the work in training and works hard on himself. We will need him again. We also believe in him.”"

While these words are heartening, the reality of Moukoko’s situation is still concerning. A player of his quality needs minutes to develop which is something Dortmund are aware of; they’ve developed enough young talent to know this by now. The fear is that in “waiting until he is needed”, the player may begin to receive offers from clubs that may prioritize him as a bigger part of another project.

As has been said many times over, losing a talent like Moukoko would be a damning reflection of the club’s current ability to integrate young prospects. The great hope is that Moukoko can be a beacon of light for the academy, and not an example of why young talents currently coming up should ponder their future, and whether that future is better spent away from the Westfalenstadion.