Many well-known faces from German football now play abroad, largely unnoticed by the media. Today in the sport.de spotlight: two former German junior national players who once tried their luck at BVB and FC Bayern.
Plagued by a severe shortage of defensive personnel, a certain Jürgen Klopp, then coach of Borussia Dortmund, conjured 18-year-old Marian Sarr out of the hat on December 11, 2013.
BVB’s home-grown team was able to play 90 minutes in central defense straight away in the Champions League, did a solid job and played a part in the Black and Yellows winning 2-1 at Olympique Marseille – a decisive victory on the way to the knockout stage -Round of the premier class.
Shortly afterwards, Sarr was allowed to try his luck again in the 2-2 draw in the Bundesliga against TSG 1899 Hoffenheim; his third and final appearance for the BVB professionals followed a week later. In the 1-2 win against Hertha BSC, Klopp took the youngster, whom he once described as a “talent of the century,” off the pitch at halftime.
Farewell to BVB in summer 2016
The stars still seemed to be aligned for a great career, but instead of the next step, a series of long absences followed and the final farewell to Dortmund in the summer of 2016.
Instead of further in the Ruhr area, Sarr then played for VfL Wolfsburg II, VfR Aalen, Carl Zeiss Jena, Bonner SC and FC Gießen. The former mega-talent even found himself without an employer twice. It wasn’t until 2022 that the former German junior national player’s path led back to a top league. Far from great fame, Sarr joined Union Titus Pétange in the mini-state of Luxembourg, which has a population of 600,000.
In the province, which is of little importance in terms of football, Sarr seems to have finally found his footballing happiness a good ten years after his much-noticed professional debut.
“I had a good feeling right from the start and am very valued here,” Sarr commented on his move to “Sport Bild” at the beginning of the year.
Sarr hasn’t yet ticked off the return to the big stage: “Who knows what will happen in the future. I hope that I’ll be able to hear the Champions League anthem again on the pitch. And I see one coming abroad greater opportunity than if I had stayed in Germany.”
Champion with FC Bayern – and soon again?
Leon Dajaku, who made his professional debut at VfB Stuttgart in 2018 at the age of just 17, moved on to FC Bayern in 2019 and played twice for the Munich team in the Bundesliga and in the cup, is also hoping for a breakthrough outside of German football.
The big initial spark didn’t happen in the Bavarian capital, but Union Berlin still paid FC Bayern 1.5 million euros following a six-month loan to secure Dajaku’s services.
However, the right-footed player’s career only took off with a subsequent loan move to the English third division club AFC Sunderland. Dajaku played 22 league games in 2021/22 and was promoted to the second division with the British.
However, Dajaku quickly faded into the background again. The result: another loan – this time to Switzerland to FC St. Gallen and ultimately a permanent move to Croatian first division club Hajduk Split in the summer of 2023.
The fact that Sunderland let the 22-year-old leave on a free transfer despite having one year remaining on his contract underlines that Dajaku’s career had not taken off.
In Croatia, however, the hoped-for success seems to finally be happening. Although mostly as a joker, Dajaku was on the pitch in eleven of 15 league games, scoring two goals and assisting one goal. With Hajduk, Dajaku is currently greeting us from the top of the table – there is a chance of winning the championship.
Speaking of the championship: the offensive all-rounder also won the same with FC Bayern in 2019/20, but at that time he only made two short appearances.
Marc Affeldt