📈 From unwanted to world-class? Everyone’s talking about this €5m man | OneFootball

On Monday, a day before the important Champions League clash with Atalanta, it wasn't Serhou Guirassy, Julian Brandt, or Gregor Kobel who appeared alongside coach Niko Kovac at the final press conference. No, it was Julian Ryerson who faced the journalists' questions next to the successful Croatian coach.

A coincidence? Certainly not.

Just three days earlier, the 28-year-old had delivered perhaps his best game for Dortmund in the 4-0 win against Mainz, assisting all four goals. Four assists. In one Bundesliga match. Historic. Since the start of detailed data collection in 2004/05, no one at BVB had achieved that.

Ryerson confidently spoke afterward of an improvement "on my part" and "good numbers." He now has eleven assists in the league. Only Bayern star Michael Olise has more assists across the league. Ten of these eleven assists came from crosses. That's the best in Europe's top 5 leagues.

Seemingly out of nowhere, the former wing worker has become one of the most dangerous playmakers on the continent.

From Five-Million Transfer to Mainstay

That Ryerson would one day be mentioned in the same breath as Europe's elite would not have been seriously predicted in January 2023. He came to Dortmund from Union Berlin for just five million euros.

At the Iron Ones, the Norwegian had established himself as a defensively reliable, tactically disciplined full-back. He fit perfectly with Urs Fischer's style, delivering no glamour and little spectacle. "Julian is an intelligent and positively very aggressive defending player," explained sporting director Sebastian Kehl at the time of the signing. There was no talk of offensive explosions.

Accordingly, the reaction among his own fanbase was muted. "Who the hell is Ryerson?" sneered the BVB blog 'schwatzgelb.de'. Most saw him at best as a solid rotation player.

📸 RONNY HARTMANN - AFP or licensors

But Ryerson proved his critics wrong. In the second half of the 2022/23 season, he immediately rose to become a regular player. He defended uncompromisingly on both the right and left, becoming an essential component in a half-season at the end of which BVB narrowly missed the championship. Offensively, his contribution remained modest with one assist. In the 2023/24 season, he added five scorer points (four goals, one assist).

Regardless, a part of the fans had long embraced their "war pig." Week after week, Ryerson delivered commitment, mentality, and reliability.

And yet a flaw remained. For Dortmund's high playing standards, he seemed football-wise too limited. His reputation was that of a slightly above-average Bundesliga full-back.

Between Mockery and Breakthrough

This image initially continued for the next year and a half. The right-footer was almost always a regular player, showed decent performances, and had a solid offensive output. But when BVB slipped into its first small crisis of the season in November of the previous year, Ryerson was even declared the symbol of the misery. "Leopard pattern on the head, but toothless on the football pitch," wrote 'Ruhr24' mockingly, referring to his rather wild hairstyle.

This comment aged poorly. With the start of the second half of the season, Ryerson literally exploded. Eight of his eleven Bundesliga assists were collected in the current calendar year. Across all competitions, he has nine assists in 2026 so far – surpassed only by Michael Olise.

He is emblematic of Dortmund's upswing, currently reflected in six consecutive Bundesliga victories. And things are going well internationally too. In the 2-0 playoff first leg against Atalanta, he set up the 1-0 with a perfectly soft cross to Serhou Guirassy. Ryerson is suddenly not just a stabilizing factor. He is more of a true difference maker.

Crossing God and Set-Piece Conductor

The key to his development lies mainly in the area of set pieces. In the 4-0 against Mainz, Ryerson's crossing art took on almost historical dimensions. A perfectly executed free-kick to Guirassy, a pinpoint delivery to Beier, a razor-sharp corner again to Guirassy. Even for the fourth goal, his corner was the starting point.

"I have to put the ball on the spot, the others have to run there," he explained matter-of-factly afterward.

But indeed, BVB currently spreads fear and terror with set pieces. In the seven league games since the beginning of the year, Dortmund has scored seven goals from corners or free-kicks. Six of them came from Ryerson's deliveries.

📸 Alex Grimm - 2026 Getty Images

Assistant coach Robert Kovac, who took over set-piece training after the separation from Alex Clapham, apparently relies on simplification. Clear running paths, precise execution, and perfect timing are the order of the day. The motto: less frills, more efficiency.

Ryerson is the conductor in the concert of set pieces. His crosses come with a precision that has already led observers to compare him with the greatest footballers of all time. The 'kicker' recently even dubbed the BVB star "Ruhrpott-Beckham." And indeed: Hardly any other player in Europe currently delivers the ball so consistently dangerously into the opponent's penalty area.

Europe's Elite Takes Notice

This development does not go unnoticed, of course. According to media reports, top clubs like Liverpool, Barcelona, Newcastle, and Manchester United are currently lining up.

From the once ridiculed five-million transfer, he has become a full-back who decides games within three years – and not just with discipline and mentality, but now also with world-class crosses.

And so the circle closes to last Monday. That Julian Ryerson sat next to Niko Kovac on the podium was a clear signal. BVB knows to whom it owes its current upswing to a large extent.

From "Who the hell is that?" to perhaps the most sought-after full-back in Europe: Ryerson's journey is truly unparalleled. The rising star is now unwanted nowhere.

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

📸 Stuart Franklin - 2026 Getty Images