5 surprise academy products from Borussia Dortmund
From Mario Götze, to Nuri Sahin and Christian Pulisic, Borussia Dortmund have got the knack of producing gifted youngsters down to a fine art. And while not everyone at the club’s academy goes on to play for the first team, some still make it to the top, as these five BVB graduates prove…
Antonio Rüdiger
Age: 27
Current club: Chelsea
At Dortmund from: 2008-2010
Youth: Rüdiger was born in Berlin and spent much of his early years at clubs in and around the German capital before signing on with Dortmund at the age of 15 in summer 2008. That was the same year his older half-brother Sahr Senesie, eight years his senior, left BVB after making 24 appearances in Black-and-Yellow.
Rüdiger never got quite as far as that at the Signal Iduna Park, however, and after two-and-a-half years in Dortmund’s youth teams he moved on to VfB Stuttgart in search of a chance a first-team football. “I thank Dortmund for the great time I had here, but in Stuttgart the possibilities are better for me,” he told RevierSport at the time.
Going pro: Rüdiger made his debut for VfB’s reserve side in July 2011 in Germany’s fourth division, and did enough in the first half of the season to convince first-team head coach Bruno Labbadia that he was ready for the Bundesliga.
The centre-back made his top-flight debut in early 2012, and would go on to amass 80 league appearances for the Swabian outfit over the next three seasons. He also became a full Germany international in that time, earning his maiden senior international cap in May 2014 following praise from Joachim Löw, who likened him to Jerome Boateng and gave him his chance because “he’s been one of our strongest defenders in training.”
Now: Rüdiger left Stuttgart in 2015 for AS Roma and two years later he was on the move again, this time to the English Premier League with Chelsea, with whom he won the 2018 FA Cup. He remains a regular for both club and country.
Age: 26
Current club: Bayer Leverkusen
At Dortmund from: 2007-2008, 2011-2013
Youth: A child of Germany’s football-obsessed Ruhr region, football was inevitably going to be part of Demirbay’s life, and he initially cut his teeth in the game in Schalke’s youth academy before doing the unthinkable and moving to arch-rivals Dortmund in 2007.
The left-footed midfielder was only with BVB for a season initially, but, following a three-year hiatus with SG Wattenscheid 09, he returned to Dortmund at the age of 18 in summer 2011.
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Going pro: Demirbay’s quality on the ball and eye for a pass earned him a spot in Dortmund’s reserve side and he made his debut in the third division in July 2012. Overall, he scored two goals in 28 appearances for BVB’s second string that season – without ever making a first-team appearance – before agreeing to a move to Hamburg in a bid to make his breakthrough into the professional game.
The following three years were trying times for the midfielder, as a series of injuries and loan moves – to Kaiserslautern and Fortuna Düsseldorf – hampered to his progress. It wasn’t until Julian Nagelsmann recognised his untapped potential and took him to Hoffenheim in 2016 that Demirbay’s career really began to take off.
Now: He took great strides under Nagelsmann’s guidance, becoming a full Germany international as well as being part of Löw’s side that lifted the 2017 Confederations Cup in Russia. Demirbay also gained UEFA Champions League experience in 2017/18 and 2018/19, all of which paved the way for a transfer to Bayer Leverkusen, where he has been a regular in Peter Bosz’s side in 2019/20.
Watch: From the archive: Owo meets Demirbay
Age: 28
Current club: Wolfsburg
At Dortmund from: 2007 - 2013
Youth: Another Ruhr region native, Ginczek arrived at Dortmund at the age of 16 in 2007. He soon made a name for himself there, scoring 26 goals in 25 games in his first season to finish the campaign as the U18 Bundesliga’s top scorer.
That haul earned him a swift promotion into BVB’s reserve side for the 2008/09 campaign, and he made his debut in the third division in July 2009.
Going pro: With 28 goals in 66 outings for Dortmund’s second team, Ginczek was clearly ready for the next step, but with Nelson Valdez, Lucas Barrios and a certain Robert Lewandowski already in Jürgen Klopp’s first-team squad, there was no clear path for him into the team.
As such, the forward had successive loan spells in Bundesliga 2 at Bochum (2011/12) and St. Pauli (2012/13), and the latter was particularly fruitful as Ginczek registered 18 goals in 31 outings. That was enough for Nuremberg to recruit him, handing him his Bundesliga debut in 2013/14.
Now: Ginczek is now in his second season at Wolfsburg, following four years at Stuttgart. An undoubtedly gifted goalscorer, he has suffered rotten luck with injuries over the years, twice tearing his cruciate ligament, among other ailments, and has played just 191 games in nine seasons as a senior pro.
Koray Günter
Age: 25
Current club: Hellas Verona
At Dortmund from: 2008 - 2014
Youth: Günter became the youngest player ever to board at Dortmund’s academy facilities when he joined the club at the age of 13. Having started out as a striker, he was converted into a centre-back as he swiftly progressed up through the age categories.
He represented Turkey at U16 level, but switched allegiance to Germany from the U17s onwards, even helping the side finish as runners-up at the U17 European Championship and third at the FIFA U17 World Cup in 2011, alongside Emre Can, among others. .
Going pro: Günter moved up to the reserve side in 2012 and made his first and only Bundesliga appearance as an 89th-minute substitute in a 2-0 defeat to Borussia Mönchengladbach on Matchday 8 of the 2012/13 season.
At the time, however, Dortmund were still at the peak of their powers, having just won back-to-back Bundesliga titles with Mats Hummels and Neven Subotic unmovable from the centre-back positions. With regular playing time unlikely, Günter joined Turkish giants Galatasaray at the age of 20 in 2014.
Now: After a couple of years in Istanbul Günter was on the move again when Serie A side Genoa FC came calling for his services. He is on loan at Hellas Verona for the 2019/20 campaign.
Marco Stiepermann
Age: 29
Current club: Norwich City
At Dortmund from: 1998-2012
Youth: Dortmund born and raised, Stiepermann joined BVB at the age of just seven and was on the club’s books for the next 14 years. His first ‘appearance’ at the Signal Iduna Park arrived three years later, when he accompanied new club signing Marcio Amoroso onto the pitch as a mascot for his first game.
Stiepermann represented Germany at every youth level from U16 upwards, and was on the fringes of the Dortmund first-team squad when he was 18 in 2009.
Going pro: He made the first of seven Bundesliga appearances in December 2009 as a late substitute against Wolfsburg and even scored a crucial equaliser against the same opposition in his next outing in May 2010 to salvage a 1-1 draw.
However, much like Günter and Ginczek, his emergence coincided with one of the strongest Dortmund teams in a long time and further first-team opportunities were limited, even if he did earn a Bundesliga winner’s medal in 2011. Stiepermann subsequently had a year on loan at Bundesliga 2 side Alemannia Aachen in 2011/12, before two years apiece at Energie Cottbus and Greuther Fürth.
Now: The attacking midfielder moved to Norwich City in 2017 and helped the team earn promotion from the Championship to the Premier League in 2019.
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