BVB loanee Kjell Wätjen makes debut in Bochum | OneFootball

13 brought him luck. It was the 41st minute in the second division match between VfL Bochum and 1. FC Magdeburg. Visiting player Marcus Mathisen (29) lost focus for a moment. Kjell Wätjen (19) chased down the ball and wasn’t stopped even by FCM goalkeeper Dominik Reimann (28). With a delicate chip, the BVB loanee scored the lead for his team.

After 90 minutes, the scoreboard at the Ruhrstadion showed a 2:0 for Bochum. Thanks to the home victory, VfL left the relegation zone and climbed to 14th place in the table. Wätjen’s opening goal was the “icebreaker.” Up to that point, the strong Elbe city team lost their dominance, while the home side grew stronger and stronger.

Wätjen, who is on loan at Castroper Straße until the end of the season, was able to celebrate for the first time in his 13th match for his new team. So far, his record only included an assist from the DFB Cup match against BFC Dynamo (3:1 after extra time).

“Played a great game”

This season, the Gevelsberg native has played in various positions – sometimes as a winger, then again in central midfield. Bochum’s new head coach Uwe Rösler (56), in charge since early October, sees Wätjen “in the center,” as he explained a few days ago at a press conference. But the 19-year-old is also “a player who can help out on the right midfield.” That’s why, in the 3:2 win against Hertha BSC, Rösler deployed him there as one of the “most hard-running players.” The Dortmund loanee also played there in the 1:0 midweek DFB Cup win at Bundesliga side FC Augsburg. “That’s where I see him at his strongest, and he played a great game,” praised the former East German international, referring to the BVB youngster.

At the end of this season, Wätjen – as things stand – will return to the Black and Yellows. “I’ll just wait and see what happens here and in Dortmund,” he recently said in an interview with Sport1. “Nothing is final yet,” emphasized the attacking all-rounder, who has made four Bundesliga appearances for Borussia. “The supposed step back to the 2nd division is actually a step forward for me. I hope I can develop well here. That’s my goal,” he added. Against Magdeburg, he impressively confirmed his upward trend.

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