Borussia Dortmund wanted to keep him, but Paris Brunner wasn’t satisfied with the plan presented to him. So he moved to AS Monaco and was loaned to Cercle Brugge. Things aren’t going well there yet.

Paris Brunner is a true Dortmund boy. Born in Dortmund, trained at BVB, 18 years young. But the talented striker turned his back on BVB in the summer and moved to AS Monaco. From there, he was loaned to Belgian first division club Cercle Brugge, where he is supposed to play.

But that hasn’t really happened yet. “We will give Paris time to settle into our team,” said Cercle’s technical director, Rembert Vromant, on Brunner’s arrival (via kicker). And: “He is tall and physically strong, but also very agile and has the technical qualities needed to play in various attacking positions.”

In fact, Brunner still has to wait his turn. He has only started once. In the 1-4 defeat against Wisla Krakow in the Conference League qualifiers, he played in the first half before being substituted. Otherwise, he has made three substitute appearances in the league and Conference League.

Brunner has not yet scored or assisted. In the recent 6-2 win against FC St. Gallen, Brunner came on for the final quarter of an hour.

However, he remains a regular for the German U19 national team. On Wednesday, October 9, they won 2-1 in a friendly against Spain. Goal and assist? Paris Brunner.

BVB wanted to keep Brunner

Brunner moved from VfL Bochum’s youth team to BVB in 2020. There was no doubt about the talent of the striker, who was already playing for the U19 team at the age of 15. But there were doubts about his professionalism. Brunner repeatedly attracted attention in Dortmund for disciplinary issues and was temporarily suspended last season.

And yet: “We would have liked to keep Paris at Borussia Dortmund in the long term, but unfortunately he did not want to follow the path we had laid out for him,” explained BVB sporting director Sebastian Kehl, adding: “We thank Paris for his time at BVB and of course wish him all the best for his future.”

According to consistent media reports, Brunner had a contract offer on the table but was not convinced by the prospects presented to him. Overall, the German U17 World and European champion made 38 appearances for BVB’s U19 team in the A-Junior Bundesliga West (24 goals, ten assists) and 14 Youth League games (five goals, one assist). Last May, he reached the final of the German A-Junior Championship with the U19 team.

Brunner played two third division games for the U23 team and was nominated once for the Bundesliga squad.