Erling Haaland is a big fan of Youssoufa Moukoko, who is reportedly on Liverpool ’s radar for a transfer next year.
Moukoko has long been considered one of the most exciting young players in the world. The Borussia Dortmund striker became the youngest ever player to feature in the Bundesliga, at the age of 16 years and one day, back in November 2020 and is now a fully-fledged star.
Still only 17 years old, Moukoko has featured regularly for Dortmund this season, contributing three goals and four assists in 15 appearances across all competitions. And his performances have caught the attention of some of Europe’s biggest clubs.
According to Sport, Liverpool are joined by Real Madrid, Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain in tracking Moukoko, whose Dortmund contract is set to expire in June 2023. The report states that Liverpool are in pole position due to Jurgen Klopp’s personal admiration for the player and his connections to his old club.
Injuries to Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota, as well as Darwin Nunez, who missed Saturday’s early kick-off against Nottingham Forest, have left Liverpool short in forward positions. Moukoko fits the bill for their recruitment team and they will be pleased to see Haaland’s glowing reference on his CV.
"I'm really happy for Youssoufa,” he said after Moukoko’s record-breaking debut. “I'd really like to play with him sometime. I think he's one of the biggest talents in the world right now. He's only 16 years and one day old, and he's playing fantastically. He has a great career ahead of him.”
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Haaland continued his praise later down the line, too. "[Youssoufa] is very powerful and skillful," he told Insider in May 2021. "He is already at one of the top clubs for improving his game. The club gives you a chance to play. It does not matter what age you are."
Moukoko grew up with his grandparents in Cameroon, but moved to Germany when he was 10, where he was spotted by Dortmund’s academy. He has since earned five caps for Germany’s under-21 side, scoring six times.
His early breakthrough means Moukoko is very used to dealing with hype and expectation. “You just have to learn to deal with it,” he told Kicker in June. “I have people around me who keep saying something. My parents, advisors. I think I can deal with it. I don’t have to prove anything to anyone, just myself. That I learned.”
He is enjoying his time at Dortmund, where he is playing the likes of Jude Bellingham, Julian Brandt, Marco Reus and Thorgan Hazard. “My role is to score goals,” he said. “This is where the coach trusts me, he told me from the start: ‘I’m counting on you.’ That gave me a lot of self-confidence.”
He added: “I definitely want to gain more match practice, score more goals and definitely stay injury free. Now that I’ve got a break I can catch my breath and then I can attack fully next season. I’m extremely motivated.”
