Jamie Bynoe-Gittens has been hailed as a “massive talent” by Borussia Dortmund boss Marco Rose after the teenage England winger made his first Bundesliga start for the club.
The 17-year-old is seeking to emulate the achievements of Jadon Sancho as he also swapped Manchester City for the Bundesliga side as a teenager. Bynoe-Gittens made his first Bundesliga start in Saturday’s 4-3 defeat against Bochum, in what was his third senior appearance for the club.
The teenage star started the game in an advanced position on the left-wing for Dortmund and was rated as the second best player on the pitch by analytical performance website Whoscored, who rated his performance as 7.7/10 – behind only Dortmund’s hat-trick hero Erling Haaland.
Bynoe-Gittens played 63 minutes in the thrilling encounter before being replaced, having already appeared in the Bundesliga in brief substitute appearances against Wolfsburg and Bayern Munich earlier in April. It is the latest indication of how highly he is rated by figures within the club.
Speaking to bundesliga.com after the game, the winger explained when asked how it felt to be part of the Dortmund team: "At first it was a big surprise to me because coming from Reading - a small town - not really many people play football. So yeah - just crazy to be a part of this team."
Dortmund attacking midfielder Julian Brandt said of the English teen: "Jamie is still young. You can see he's very assertive and has that carefree nature that young players often pride themselves on.
"I think we've lacked something like that this season - having someone on the wings who wants to - and can - tear past two or three players. His talent goes without saying. He's got everything needed to take a big step with us here."
Dortmund boss Rose gave him a glowing review after the game, explaining that his performances for the youth teams propelled him into his plans and insisted that his stamina would improve over time: "He justified his selection - he played well. Jamie is a massive talent who has had some injury problems and that's why we have brought him through slowly with the U19s.
"He gives us something we are sometimes lacking - someone willing to take someone on one-on-one down the wing at pace. He still has to get used to the high tempo of the Bundesliga. He got tired after 60 minutes."
Dortmund sporting director Michael Zorc has said previously of the player: "He's a highly talented offensive player, but he should develop patiently with us in the junior division. We don't want expectations to be too high right from the start."
Having started his career in Reading’s youth teams, he switched to Manchester City’s Under-15 side and was subsequently called up to England’s Under-16 squad. He impressed for City in the Under-18 Premier League before moving out to Germany, where he has recovered from an ankle ligament injury to continue his progress through to the first-team.
Dortmund have a growing reputation for blooding young talents into their side with Bynoe-Gittens following in the footsteps of Sanco and his current teammate Jude Bellingham, aged just 18.
