Youssoufa Moukoko of Borussia Dortmund looks on in the Bundesliga game against 1. FC Koeln at RheinEnergieStadion in Cologne, Germany, March 20, 2021. /CFP
Borussia Dortmund's 16-year-old genius striker Youssoufa Moukoko has been ruled out for the rest of the 2020-21 season because of injury, announced the club on Monday.
Moukoko suffered a foot injury during a practice session of the German Under-21 national football team in March. "The injury is worse than initially feared. We have to let the healing process run its course," said Germany U21 manager Stefan Kuntz.
Moukoko is the Bundesliga's youngest player and a goal-scoring prodigy. In the games he played at youth-level for Dortmund, he scored 127 goals and 24 assists overall. That's why the club put him in the first-team in January 2020, even before Moukoko turned 16.
He has since scored three goals in 14 games for Dortmund this season.
Youssoufa Moukoko of Borussia Dortmund dribbles the ball in the Bundesliga game against 1. FC Koeln at RheinEnergieStadion, March 20, 2021. /CFP
Moukoko being ruled out is nothing but a big blow to Dortmund. The team lost 2-1 to Eintracht Frankfurt at home on April 3, watching their trail to the UEFA Champions League qualification zone (top 4 of the Bundesliga) grow to seven points. There are only seven games left in the German league and Dortmund will face two strong opponents, RB Leipzig and Bayer 04 Leverkusen, in those games.
If Moukoko's injury is only bad luck, the continuous transfer rumors about two of Dortmund's best players, Erling Haaland and Jadon Sancho, have been haunting the club for so painfully long. Recently, Haaland's name was connected with Barcelona and his father was spotted at the airport of the city.
That's probably why Dortmund's CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke decided make a response, which can help calm the team down and stick together.
"We don't have a parallel plan. We will talk to Erling, his father and his agent, Mino Raiola, in peace. After all, we want him to be happy to stay with us and that he will score goals with conviction for BVB next year. There is no alternative plan," said Watzke to DAZN.
"If an extraordinary offer comes in for him (Sancho), we will discuss it with the player and his agent, as always. Nonetheless, I am very sure that the transfer market will only run to a very limited extent this summer. Especially at the really big clubs you can see what kind of wounds coronavirus has inflicted, and they are not small ones that heal within two weeks."
Dortmund are challenging Premier League's leader Manchester City in the Champions League Quarterfinals first-leg game at the City of Manchester Stadium on Tuesday.