How do Dortmund solve a problem like Youssoufa Moukoko?

The promising striker is once again kicking up a fuss at Dortmund, but could Nuri Sahin be the man to finally quell the player's concerns at the Bundesliga club?

For anyone missing the regular drumbeat of the Bundesliga season or hasn’t had the chance to catch season two of House of the Dragon, delight and drama can surely be found in the circus that has followed Borussia Dortmund around on their pre-season tour of Thailand and Japan. While the club struggles to keep everyone smiling in front of camera as they visit baseball stadiums and pose at theme parks alongside life-sized anime characters, trouble continues to brew beneath the surface. 

There is, for some bizarre reason, a whirlwind of nonsense surrounding Dortmund’s front line and the club’s inconsistent messaging and behaviour in the transfer window. Following the arrival of Serhou Guirassy from Stuttgart earlier this month, just about every striker at Dortmund has been linked with a departure from the club. The most recent rumour to surface involves Niclas Füllkrug heading to West Ham. Others have suggested that Donyell Malen, Karim Adeyemi and Sebastian Haller could all depart too. And as if that wasn’t enough for Nuri Sahin to contend with ahead of his first season as Dortmund head coach, Youssoufa Moukoko’s agent also recently turned to social media lightning rod Fabrizio Romano to pour gasoline on the fire. 

liveherewego

A post shared by @liveherewego

"Youssoufa has a huge potential, which unfortunately he couldn't show last season," said the player’s agent Patrick William, in a tirade about Dortmund’s mishandling of the young talent. Before revealing that the forward had interest from clubs in England, France and Spain, William said: "Youssoufa was promised a lot before he signed, but it wasn't realised. He was always only interested in playing and in his development.” You can click on the post above to read the full interview.

There will be some Dortmund fans that suddenly feel a strong sense of deja vu upon hearing William’s quotes. After all, Moukoko may be a perfectly cordial professional on the pitch, but he’s always had representation that have been more than happy to air his grievances on his behalf. This is, after all, a player that has seemingly demanded first team football since he started scoring goals in Dortmund’s youth team. And it was only 18 months ago that the club went through an almighty ordeal in order to get the player to sign a contract extension in January 2023. Then, as now, William was no stranger to the airwaves.