The making of Jamie Gittens: How Reading helped create one of Europe’s best dribblers | OneFootball

Some footballers have a happy knack for being in the right place at the right time.

It’s a trait that English winger Jamie Gittens has demonstrated throughout Borussia Dortmund’s Champions League campaign, and one that has now made him a top transfer target, as some of the Premier League’s biggest clubs look to lure him home.

The boy from Berkshire scored four goals in the extended group stage, including one against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu in a 5-2 defeat to Jude Bellingham’s side back in October.

It’s not just his goal contributions that have stood out, either. The 20-year-old’s assists from either flank have proved an equally potent weapon for the German side. And according to stats website WhoScored.com, Gittens has completed more dribbles than any other player in Europe’s top five leagues this season, ahead of the first leg of Dortmund’s Champions League play-off tie against Sporting on Tuesday.

However, had he not found himself at Reading as the club pioneered a coaching revolution, it’s hard to predict where Gittens might have ended up.

“He first came to us in the 2011-12 season,” says Reading’s head of academy recruitment Brendan Flanagan.

“Eamonn Dolan [Reading’s much-loved former academy manager, who died of cancer in 2016] brought some new coaches into the foundation phase and we basically looked at the way we could develop players. Back then, we weren’t developing players that other clubs wanted to buy from us. We didn’t sell academy players because nobody wanted them.

“I remember after we had just beaten Spurs in the under-14s, we overheard two of their coaches saying that there wasn’t one player from Reading that they would want to take. That was really the catalyst for change.

“Under Eammon, it really became all about the players mastering one-v-one scenarios. All of a sudden, we started producing footballers that other clubs couldn’t wait to buy from us. The changes that we made back then are probably the ones that have kept the club afloat.”

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Gittens has completed the most dribbles in Europe’s top five leagues this season, according to WhoScored.com (Getty)

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Gittens has become a key figure at Dortmund (Getty Images)

The route Reading chose didn’t just provide a financial lifeline, it also provided the perfect platform for one of their own to flourish.

“Jamie was probably in the first group that came through to benefit from this philosophy,” says Flanagan. “It suited him down to the ground.”

Reading’s approach may sound counterintuitive in an era where players are encouraged to play out from the back, keep the ball and pass, pass, and pass some more. Flanagan says that Reading, Tottenham and Manchester United were the three clubs leading the charge to create the footballers of the future. What it did was force players to be comfortable in one-v-one situations, and develop the skills that would enable them to dribble out of trouble and into danger areas. In short, it helped to formulate the kind of unpredictable creativity that makes players like Gittens so hard to handle.

“It’s nothing new,” says Rhys Denton, who also worked with Gittens during his time at the Royals. “He’s pretty much still playing in the same way he did for us. He used to terrify defenders.”

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Gittens has shone for England’s Under-21s, so is he in the mix for a first senior call-up under Thomas Tuchel? (The FA/Getty)

“He was just a really good kid, a brilliant personality,” Flanagan says. “He could be a bit sulky at times if things didn’t go his way but what he did have was parents who were so supportive. They say that kids are a product of the parents – and that’s 100 per cent true when it comes to Jamie. When he left us [to go to Manchester City at the age of 14] it was a little bit sad, but we were never going to stand in anyone’s way.”

Gittens is far from the only player to emerge from one of English football’s most prolific production lines. The list is lengthy and includes the likes of Bayern Munich and France winger Michael Olise, who found himself at Reading alongside Gittens for a brief period. The latest to come through the ranks is Andre Garcia, still only 17, who has been a regular in League One this season under both Ruben Selles and Noel Hunt, who took over from the Spaniard when he left to go to Hull in December.

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Michael Olise came through Reading and is now shining at Bayern Munich, after a spell with Crystal Palace (Getty)

Quite how much longer Dortmund can keep hold of another Royals’ gem remains to be seen. The list of suitors is getting lengthier by the day, while new England boss Thomas Tuchel may also be watching his progress with keen interest.

“Whatever happens and wherever he ends up playing, he’ll take it in his stride,” says Flanagan. “He’s the most level-headed kid - Jamie won’t get fazed by any challenge.

“He was out in Germany on his own at the age of 16, he moved to Manchester from Reading at the age of 14. Coming back here wouldn’t faze him whatsoever. He’ll just excel wherever he is.”