Borussia Dortmund’s teen sensation Youssoufa Moukoko becomes the youngest player in Bundesliga history after coming off the bench to make his debut aged just 16 years and one day… as Erling Haaland says his team-mate is ‘the biggest talent in the WORLD’
- Youssoufa Moukoko became the youngest player to appear in the Bundesliga
- The 16 year old was brought on as Borussia Dortmund beat Hertha Berlin 5-2
- Moukoko scored an incredible 90 goals in 56 games for Dortmund Under-17s
Youssoufa Moukoko became the youngest player in Bundesliga history after making his Borussia Dortmund debut on Saturday.
Just a day after turning 16, the forward entered the fray in the 85th minute as Dortmund secured a 5-2 victory away to Hertha Berlin.
Moukoko was allowed to play following a new ruling introduced this season which lets players feature in the Bundesliga when they are 16 years old. They previously had to be aged 16 years and six months before they could feature.
Youssoufa Moukoko became the Bundesliga’s youngest ever player aged 16 years and one day
Dortmund star Erling Haaland described Moukoko as the ‘biggest talent in the world’. Haaland is only 20 years old himself but joked that he is ‘getting old’ with Moukoko making excellent progress.
‘I think he’s the biggest talent in the world right now. 16 years and one day, that’s quite amazing. He has a big career ahead of him,’ Haaland said about Moukoko to ESPN. ‘I’m over 20 years, I’m getting old now. That’s how it is.’
As reported by The Sun, the previous youngest player to play in the Bundesliga was Nuri Sahin, who was aged 16 years, 11 months and one day when he featured for Dortmund against Nurnberg in 2005.
Erling Haaland described his Borussia Dortmund team-mate as ‘the biggest talent in the world’
Moukoko, who has already been capped by Germany at U20 level, joined Dortmund from St. Pauli in 2016.
Having featured in the Under-17 Bundesliga at the age of 13, he moved up to the Under-20 squad last season.
Moukoko made a huge impact for Dortmund at youth level, scoring 90 goals for the Under-17s
Aged 14, he scored six goals in a 9-2 victory against Wuppertaler SV. Moukoko also went on to become the youngest individual to both play and score in the UEFA Youth League.
Moukoko also scored three times in four appearances for Germany Under-16s.
He boasts an incredible return of 90 goals in 56 games for Dortmund at Under-17 level, while he scored 47 goals in 25 appearances for the Under-19s.