Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund releases one of his top talents to the district competition. This was confirmed by BVB on Tuesday afternoon.
BVB gives midfielder Kjell Wätjen to relegation VfL Bochum for one year.
“We deliberately decided to borrow Kjell to VfL Bochum – a very ambitious second division team, in which he can collect a lot of game practice. Due to the competitive situation in our midfield, the latter would have been difficult for Kjell 2025/2026 at BVB,” said Borussia Dortmund sports director Sebastian Kehl.
With the black and yellow, however, the 19-year-old is trusted to be able to make the breakthrough in the future. “We still believe in him, his performances in our neighbor’s jersey will watch closely and wish Kjell the greatest possible success,” said Kehl. The club World Cup participant did not provide information about a possible purchase option.
The central midfielder was part of the DFB selection at the U19 European Championship in Romania, which lost unhappily in the semi-finals against Spain (5: 6 NV). Now he is looking forward to the new challenge in the 2nd Bundesliga.
Video: Gittens to Bavaria? Kehl reacts
Development of BVB talent Wätjen recently stalled
“I am very happy to be able to take the next steps of my young career on Castroper Straße. I come from this region and know about the importance of VfL for the people here. Especially the conversations with those responsible have convinced me very much,” said Wätjen, who will join VfL after his return from the German U19 national team in the coming days.
Dirk Dufner, Managing Director of VfL Bochum, described the newcomer as one of the “most talented players of his year in Germany”. You trust Wätjen “to play an important role within the team straight away”.
In 2023 Wätjen became the U17 European champion. In the following season he celebrated his professional debut at BVB. Three more missions were added. In the previous season, Wätjen ran primarily for the Dortmund third division team, scoring five goals in 20 games.