"Youssoufa Moukoko has to take the next step, the U19s are too easy for him" - Nuri Sahin
The Bundesliga's record youngest player Nuri Sahin believes the time has come for Youssoufa Moukoko to step up and break his record at Borussia Dortmund.
Sahin, 32, has held the record for the Bundesliga's youngest player for 15 years since he made his debut aged 16 years, 11 months and one day for Dortmund against Wolfsburg in August 2006.
Now, with the DFL's updated rules allowing for players to play in the Bundesliga from the day they turn 16, his record is set to be broken by Moukoko - Dortmund's record youth scorer who has made jaw-dropping development in recent years.
"It makes me happy that it's one of our players," Sahin told Kicker. "When the new rule came out, I quickly realised that my record would soon be broken. Youssoufa must now take the next step - the U-19s is too easy for him."
Most players would not have settled into their new surroundings after just three games for the U19s. Moukoko, however, has continued his record-scoring with 10 goals in just three appearances - all while aged just 15 and wearing the captain's armband - to extend his incredible record at youth level for Dortmund to 141 goals in 88 youth team appearances - and counting.
The Cameroon-born German youth international has told Kicker that since watching the UEFA Champions League semi-final between Barcelona and Chelsea on television in May 2009, all he has wanted is to be a professional football, and soon his dream will come true.
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"That was the first time I dreamed of becoming a professional footballer," said Moukoko, who has been training with the first team again during the international break, and will be eligible to make his Bundesliga debut for Dortmund in their next league outing at Hertha Berlin on Matchday 8, one day after his 16th birthday.
"The sun is only shining with him, he has never had rainy days," said Sahin. "But these rainy days will come. Then it's important that you have people around you who accompany you and make you aware that negative headlines are part of it."
In Sahin's eyes especially, there is no player more ready to break his long-standing record and no team better prepared to help shape his future than his boyhood club Dortmund.
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