Due to the age question, there was a lot of vertebrae for the former football “child prodigy”. And yet it has become surprisingly quiet about Youssoufa Moukoko – for sporting reasons.
As Youssoufa Moukoko on November 21, 2020 at the age of 16 and one day his Bundesliga debut for Borussia Dortmund gave, his way to the highest seemed football-Spheres. Sturm colleague Erling Haaland saw the “greatest talent in the world” in Moukoko, in the media it was the word “child prodigy” that prevailed across the board.
Incredible many goals in youth
Sure, Moukoko had finally delivered a lot before, 90 goals for Dortmund’s U17 and finally 47 goals for the U19 of the BVB – numbers that will probably no longer exist anymore. The BVB managers would have preferred to help the left foot to the first Bundesliga mission, but the rules of the DFL prevent an operation of an under 16 year old.
First Bundesliga mission: Moukoko comes for Haaland
In short: the hype around Moukoko was huge. But now, a little more than four years later, the situation around Moukoko has changed fundamentally. When the German national football team competes against Italy in Milan on Thursday evening (8:45 p.m. in the Sportschau-Livestream), Moukoko is missing in the squad-in fact, it is no longer even in conversation when it comes to filling off-offensive positions with national coach Julian Nagelsmann.
DFB cademats: Moukoko is missing
Even if Moukoko actually ran twice for the DFB team in November 2022, it was little more than an experiment. Measured by the advance loorberen that Moukoko got, meager may have two missions for the A-Elf for one or the other. The fact that he will not appear against Slovakia for Germany’s U21 next Friday (6 p.m.) shows: The “child prodigy” is in a crisis.
How remarkable this waiver is, Moukoko’s balance sheet in the U21. They are similar to the fabulous Moukokos from youth: in 15 games he scored 13 goals, which is enough for fourth place in the eternal scorer list of the German U21.
Moukoko is hardly used
“Unfortunately, it is that he comes very little to play,” said U21 coach Antonio di Salvo about the explosive personnel in the storm center. At OGC Nice, the French club, to which Moukoko from BVB is loaned, the striker hardly collects hardly any minutes. At the beginning of the season, coach Franck Haise Moukoko brought regularly, in the Europa League group phase, Moukoko was even allowed to play in seven out of eight games from the start.
But his time in France is not successful. The group phase -out (Moukoko remained goalless in all games) in the Europa League meant drastically less playing time for Moukoko – in the league Haise only trusted him twice from the start. In 2025 it was 20 minutes on the lawn that Moukoko was allowed to do in Ligue 1.
The well -known bank place in Nice
Good training is not enough
Moukoko had to take a look at four of the last six games over the full season, in the remaining two games he didn’t even put it in the squad. “He trains well, but it’s not easy,” Haise told the portal “Get French Football News” last weekend. “We have six, seven, eight players in the storm. If they are unable to present themselves, score and give tenders …”, Haise said meaningfully: “I have to make decisions and can’t constantly throw in new players.”
For Di Salvo, the matter is apparently clear – if Moukoko is still not used in Nice, he will not rely on him. “It will be crucial in which constitution he is: if he should play, he is logically an option,” says the trainer with a view to a nomination of Moukokos for the U21 European Championship in Slovakia. If the situation does not change, it will of course not be easier to jump on the European Championship train. Youssoufa doesn’t want to be preferred either. “
How old is Moukoko?
It is due to his age that Moukoko is still an issue for the U21. Moukoko was born on November 20, 2004 and is 20 years old. That is at least the currently valid statement. TV documentary including research tendencies had brought doubts about the old Moukokos to the public.
Moukoko does not comment on the question of his age, focuses on football. But how it continues in terms of sport, more or less independent of his age, is in the stars in view of its form crisis. When asked about Moukoko’s future in Nice, coach Haise clearly positioned himself: “We know his situation. He is a loan player with a purchase option that the association will most likely not draw.”
“Sufficient game practice” was the goal
When Moukoko was awarded to Nice before the season, BVB sports director Sebastian Kehl expressed the hope that the stumbling top talent will “do a change and a new environment.” In view of the competitive situation in Dortmund, Moukoko “would have” difficult to get enough game practice in the coming months to develop at a high level. “
Now, almost three quarters of a year later, it seems clear: Moukoko and Nice, that was not much with further development. The loan ends that Moukoko will return to BVB at least at short notice, where he will hardly climb in the internal ranking after a lost year in France. A farewell from Dortmund seems possible so as not to say.
Quo Vadis Youssoufa Moukoko?
Despite the difficult phase, interested parties from the Bundesliga and abroad. The radiance of the former jewel is still too great, too present his scoring rates from the variety of variation, also in the U21. Only the highest football spheres are hardly trusted. The “child prodigy” of yore – it stumbles.
Our sources:
- Result overview on sportschau.de
- Transfermarkt.de
- French football portal “Get French Football News”
- Press conference DFB (U21) with Anotonio di Salvo
