The sad fall of the ‘African Lionel Messi’: How Youssoufa Moukoko went from being ‘the biggest talent in the world’ at Borussia Dortmund to joining Copenhagen for just €5m

“[There’s] a young player who plays for [Borussia] Dortmund called Youssoufa Moukoko,” Eto’o told GOAL when asked who he’d love to see as Barcelona’s next big signing back in October 2020. “[He’s] 15 years of age, and he’s the next top player, for me, after [Lionel] Messi. As Messi gets older, we could prepare the future of Barcelona very well.”

Moukoko had not made a senior appearance for Dortmund at that stage, but he was already one of the most famous young players in Europe. That’s because he scored an astonishing 141 goals in 88 games for BVB at youth level, and set ridiculously high targets for himself right from the start of his football journey.

“It is my goal to become a professional player in Dortmund, capture the Champions League with Borussia, and win the Ballon d’Or,” Moukoko said in an interview with Sport BILD when he was just 13. He achieved the first goal the day after he turned 16, and came very close to picking up a Champions League winners’ medal in 2023-24 under Edin Terzic.

But it’s fair to say now that Moukoko will never win the Ballon d’Or. He only played 18 minutes in Dortmund’s run to the Champions League final two seasons ago, and spent the 2024-25 campaign on loan at Nice, having been deemed surplus to requirements by Terzic’s replacement, Nuri Sahin.

The so-called ‘African Messi’ did not find redemption in Ligue 1 either, which left Dortmund with no choice but to find a permanent buyer this summer. Step forward, Copenhagen.

Moukoko completed a €5m transfer to the Danish side at the weekend, ending his nine-year affiliation with BVB without a proper goodbye to the fans. The question is: how did his career at Signal Iduna Park tank so spectacularly? GOAL takes a look…