After long injury lay-off: top talent Mussa Kaba fights his way back | OneFootball

A lot is expected of him. Quite a few people already see Mussa Kaba playing in the Bundesliga this season. Yet the midfielder is only 16 years old.

The start of the new season could hardly have gone worse for the youngster. Due to tendonitis in his knee, Kaba missed almost the entire pre-season. Thanks to a tailored rehab program, the youngster worked his way back.

Then, on the Saturday before the international break, the time finally came. In the 77th minute of the Regionalliga match for the U23s against Fortuna Köln (2:2), coach Daniel Ríos (45) brought the Bielefeld native on for Arne Wessels (19). Kaba was unable to prevent the late equalizer by the team from Cologne in stoppage time.

At 15, the 1.97-meter giant was already shining in the U19s. His coach at the time, Mike Tullberg (39), praised him to the skies in August 2024. “For a boy to play like that at 15, as a coach you just stand there with wide eyes,” he enthused in an interview with Ruhr Nachrichten. He continued: “For someone to perform like that at this age is simply not normal. He’s playing for the U19s at 15, that’s outstanding. But not because we gave it to him, but because he earned it. The goal should clearly be for him to become a professional at Borussia Dortmund. He should continue to develop over the next few years and then we’ll see where the journey takes him.”

U23 only a stepping stone

Last season, Kaba made 43 appearances, 32 of them for BVB’s youth teams and eleven for the German U17 national team. He spent more than 3,200 minutes on the pitch in total. In the second half of the season, he struggled with a foot injury. The tendonitis last summer may therefore have been caused by overuse.

The goal of the German-Guinean is clear: he wants to play in the Bundesliga. To make this dream come true, Dortmund’s management is carefully nurturing the “wonderkid.” On Saturday (October 18, 2 p.m.), Kaba will likely get his next minutes in the U23 match against Velbert. But Borussia Dortmund’s second team is, in all likelihood, just a stepping stone for this top talent.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.