The Daily Bee (October 13, 2020): Registering Moukoko

Good morning, Fear The Wall!

Moukoko in Champions League

According to Goal, Borussia Dortmund plan to register U-19 stud Yousouffa Moukoko for the UEFA Champions League following his 16th birthday. While Dortmund has already named their squad for the upcoming Champions League, BVB can still name him to the squad from the B-list after meeting “certain conditions,” according to the article.

Moukoko must be 16 years, born not later than January 1, 1999, and must have played for the club for two uninterrupted years, criteria which the forward would meet on his next birthday, having been at the club since 2016.

Should he see the pitch in one of the remaining group stage matches, he will become the youngest player to play in a Champions League match. And I, for one, am absolutely excited to see what this kid can do. He’s been absolutely tearing up the U19 circuit since joining the BVB Academy in 2016. He’s also been training with the senior squad since

So thanks to the DfB changing their age restrictions, we could see Yousouffa get his Bundesliga and Champions League debuts before the year is over. See, 2020 hasn’t been so bad (OK that’s a lie, it’s been absolutely horrible, but this will be a little silver lining that we can all enjoy).

Gio Playing for... Koln?!

Gio Reyna has been great this season. Sure, there’s some things he needs work on, but for the most part he looks like he truly belongs on the pitch with some of the best players in the world. However, that nearly wasn’t the case.

In an article by De Express, Gio was very nearly a 1. FC Koln player! I know, he sure did dodge that bullet! How close was Gio to donning the red-and-white? So close that in 2017, Gio had actually traveled to Cologne to tour the facilities and Koln was prepared to offer him a salary that, when combined with solidarity payments and other expenses, would’ve topped 2 million. They even offered his mother, who was an accomplished player of her own, a position with the Koln women’s team.

Now that’s some high-quality ‘cruiting!

So what happened, how did Gio not end up in Cologne?

In the meantime, the sporting direction at FC changed: Armin Veh (59) took over, Frank Aehlig (52) brought with him as his right hand. Jacob’s area of ​​responsibility was further restricted, at some point an amicable separation was agreed. The personnel Reyna was handed over, but meanwhile the competition had grown.

Spinner did not lose sight of Reyna, however, asked Veh in an email again in the summer to keep up with the boy. But the FC came away empty-handed. In the end, Giovanni Reyna decided on Dortmund and took off.

Coupled with missing out on keeping Florian Wirtz in their system, that’s a big oof for Koln. In the end, it worked out very well for Dortmund and Reyna that Koln didn’t follow up/Gio waited to get his passport.

Sebastian Kehl Extended

Sebastian Kehl had his contract extended to 2022, good for him!

The Daily Buzz

Germany plays Switzerland in the UEFA Nations League today. How do we think that match will go?