Youssoufa Moukoko, Paul Wanner, Tom Bischof and the 10 youngest players in Bundesliga history
Youssoufa Moukoko is the youngest Bundesliga player in history, but who else joins the former Borussia Dortmund super talent among the German top flight's all-time list of fresh-faced debutants? bundesliga.com reveals the top 10…
Age on debut: 16 years, one day
Moukoko became the Bundesliga's youngest ever player, making his top-flight debut for Borussia Dortmund against Hertha Berlin on on 22 November 2020, just one day after turning 16.
Moukoko has flown through the Dortmund youth teams, amassing a barely credible 141 goals and 27 assists in just 88 games at youth level, and it was only a matter of time before he made his top-flight bow, having been made captain of the U19s - aged 15 - earlier in 2020/21.
Moukoko came on for Erling Haaland for the final five minutes of die Schwarzgelben's victory at the Olympiastadion, supplanting BVB legend Nuri Şahin as the Bundesliga's youngest ever player. Şahin had been a month off his 17th birthday when his made his league debut for Dortmund against Wolfsburg in August 2005.
Watch: Moukoko makes his debut!
2) Paul Wanner
Age on debut: 16 years, 15 days
Wanner made history as Bayern's greenest Bundesliga debutant with his cameo from the bench in the record champions' 2-1 loss to Borussia Mönchengladbach on Matchday 18 of the 2021/22 season.
The Germany U17 international took the plunge two weeks after turning 16, on 23 December 2021, in keeping with an accelarated career. Signed by Bayern at 14, he was playing for their U16s within a year and was promoted to the U17s at the start of 2021/22.
Before celebrating his 16th birthday, the left-footed attacker had already turned out nine times in the U19 Bundesliga South/South-West, producing two goals and two assists.
After limited minutes between 2021 and 2023, Wanner secured a loan move to Heidenheim for the 2023/24 season where he excelled, returning three goals and two assists in 29 games for the then Bundesliga newcomers, before joining Dutch side PSV on a permanent deal.
3) Tom Bischof
Age of debut: 16 years, 264 days
Bischof demonstrated his creative prowess at youth level with 21 goals and 16 assists for Hoffenheim's U17, U19 and reserves before being awarded his Bundesliga debut under Sebastian Hoeneß on Matchday 27 of the 2021/22 season.
Establishing himself in the senior squad in the early part of 2024/25, Bischof scored notable goals agianst RB Leipzig and Freiburg, finishing the campaign with five goals and two assists across 31 league games.
His performances secured a move to Bayern Munich in the summer, where he's already registered three assists.
Age on debut: 16 years, 266 days
At just 16, Raebiger followed in Wanner's footsteps on Matchday 18 of the same season, becoming Leipzig's all-time youngest player, just 24 hours after his Germany youth international teammate had done the same for Bayern.
Raebiger's three-minute cameo puts him fourth on the overall list, having previously been named among the substitutes for the final two matches of Leipzig's 2020/21 Bundesliga campaign and six of Leipzig's 17 Hinrunde fixtures.
The one-time Germany U17 midfielder made his Leipzig debut earlier in 2021/22, featuring in the 4-0 win over Sandhausen in the first round of the DFB Cup. After failing to establish himself in the senior squad, Raebiger is now plying his trade with Bundesliga 2 side Eintracht Braunschweig.
Age on debut: 16 years, 276 days
Sertdemir came on in Bayer Leverkusen's 1-1 draw away at Hertha Berlin on Matchday 11 of 2021/22 to snatch the record as the club’s youngest debutant.
Born in Denmark and of Turkish descent, the central midfielder only moved to the BayArena in summer 2021 from Nordsjaelland, before returning to his former club in 2023. The now 20-year-old has since returned to Germany, where he plays his football for Preußen Münster.
6) Samba Konaté
Age on debut: 16 years, 282 days
A France youth international, Konaté switched his home nation for Germany in the summer and was awarded his Bundesliga debut in Leipzig's 6-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt on Matchday 13 of the 2025/26 campaign, replacing Yan Diomande in the 87th minute.
7) Iker Bravo
Age on debut: 16 years, 298 days
Sertdemir came on with four minutes remaining in Berlin, but Bravo’s introduction seven minutes prior ensured he went down in history as Leverkusen’s first 16-year-old and – at least for those seven minutes – the club’s youngest-ever player, surpassing the record held by Florian Wirtz (17 years, 15 days).
Briefly the Bundesliga’s second greenest player, the teenager was another summer arrival at the BayArena after leaving Barcelona’s La Masia academy. Injuries up front saw the striker make his senior debut, against Karlsruhe in the DFB Cup, 11 days before his Bundesliga bow. In 2024, the Spaniard secured a move to Udinese.
8) Faik Sakar
Age on debut: 16 years, 328 days
Leipzig's Sakar was the club's youngest player in Germany's top flight prior to Konaté's introduction. Back with Leipzig's youth teams this season, the attacking-midfielder was a late substitution in their 2-0 win over Holstein Kiel last season, replacing Christoph Baumgartner to get his first minutes on a Bundesliga pitch.
9) Nuri Şahin
Age on debut: 16 years, 335 days
Another Dortmund youth product, Şahin made his full debut at the base of a midfield including Tomáš Rosický, playing the full 90 minutes in a 2-2 draw with Wolfsburg on 6 August 2005. A first goal followed - against Nuremberg - on his seventh outing. He also chipped in with six assists in his maiden top-flight campaign.
The Turkey international spent a formative stint on loan in the Netherlands with Feyenoord in 2007/08 and moved to Real Madrid in summer 2011, but between times produced a career-best six goals - including a belting free-kick against Bayern Munich - and eight assists during BVB’s 2010/11 title-winning campaign under Jürgen Klopp.
Şahin was unable to muscle his way in at Real and struggled for form and fitness whilst on loan at Liverpool, but a return to Dortmund had the desired effect. He added the 2016/17 DFB Cup to his collection in his penultimate campaign at the club, only to fall down the pecking order under Lucien Favre the next year.
Watch: The Nuri Şahin story!
10) Wael Mohya
Age on debut: 16 years, 347 days
Moyha etched his name into the history books on Matchday 14 of the current campaign, becoming the youngest player ever to feature for Borussia Mönchengladbach in the Bundesliga.
Replacing Giovanni Reyna in the 57th minute on Matchday 14, the attacking-midfielder surpassed Bundesliga icon Marko Marin, who made his debut in Germany’s top flight on Matchday 27 of the 2006/07 season shortly after his 18th birthday.
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