Youssoufa Moukoko has already experienced highs and lows in his career. The former BVB striker is hoping for a fresh start in Copenhagen.
It has been a long time since Youssoufa Moukoko has been seen laughing as heartily as in the photo shared by FC Copenhagen. The picture shows Moukoko greeting his former teammate Thomas Delaney at the hotel. Both played together at Borussia Dortmund and both now play for the top Danish club.
While Delaney, 33, is slowly entering the home stretch of his career, Moukoko, who is 13 years younger, is looking to make a fresh start in Copenhagen. “Once I’ve found my rhythm again, it’ll be really, really fun,” Moukoko hopes. That statement comes from an interview with Danish broadcaster TV2, in which Moukoko spoke emotionally about his experiences in the soccer industry so far. They can be summed up pretty quickly: In his youth, the striker broke record after record, made his debut for BVB as the youngest Bundesliga professional, made it into the national team squad for the 2022 World Cup – and then disappeared into obscurity.
His loan spell at OGC Nice was a flop, Moukoko was not nominated for the U21 European Championship, and his youth club BVB finally sidelined him this summer. In addition, the young striker was repeatedly burdened by debates about his age. “I felt what it’s like to be at the top. I also felt what it’s like to be at the bottom,“ says Moukoko. ”It was really tough. There were nights when I just lay awake thinking about it, I have to be honest. But it taught me to be humble, to keep my feet on the ground and not to be arrogant.”
He says of his time in Nice: “There were a lot of critical stories about me. In Nice, they wrote that I was out of shape. But I trained harder than ever before. I trained three times a day on my own and discovered a new motivation within myself.“ He added: ”I don’t care what people say or write about me. Whatever it is, I just laugh about it. I trust myself and my body. I feel that I really want to play again.” Now he is back alongside his old colleague Thomas Delaney.