Julien Duranville

The 18-year-old forward has been a Borussia Dortmund player since January 2023 and has made three appearances for BVB as of June 2024 (cut-off date for all statistics).

Julien Duranville had his first contact with Borussia Dortmund in the autumn of 2014. When BVB played a Champions League match away to Anderlecht, Julien Duranville was ... a young mascot! Since then, Belgium's most talented young footballer has watched BVB and followed with interest how top talents such as Ousmane Dembélé and Jadon Sancho took the last big step in their sporting development in Dortmund. This encouraged him to want to take this path too.

“I think it's fantastic how young players are developed here. I've been a fan of Ousmane Dembélé since I was a little boy. I love the way he plays soccer and back then I really wanted to know which club was behind it. That's how I first really became aware of BVB. The final argument was Jadon Sancho. A great footballer and, like Dembélé and me, he's at home on the wing,” he told the members' magazine Borussia (April 2023 issue).

Before coming to Dortmund, the youngster made six appearances for 34-time Belgian champions RSC Anderlecht in the Jupiler Pro League. He made his first appearance for them in the Belgian first top flight just 17 days after his 16th birthday. He scored his first goal in his second game, from the left corner of the penalty area into the left-hand corner. A fast and tricky striker - so fast and so tricky that they call him “L'Éclair”, the lightning bolt, at home. Many clubs were interested in him, but BVB got the call. He made his Bundesliga debut when he came on as a substitute in the home match against Mainz on Matchday 34 of the 2022-23 season. In BVB history, only Youssoufa Moukoko and Nuri Sahin were younger when they made their first appearances.

It took him so long to make his debut because he had arrived at Borsigplatz from Belgium in January 2023 with a persistent muscle injury. "It was like a release," says the teenager after his first appearance. "I came onto the pitch and just thought: 'I've finally done it'. It was an inner liberation." Unfortunately, the next setback quickly followed. In the first friendly match of the 2023/24 US tour against the San Diego Loyals, Julien Duranville scored in the second minute to make it 1-0 to BVB. After receiving a pass from Youssoufa Moukoko, he drilled the ball into the net with his right foot. Less than a quarter of an hour later, he walked off the pitch with a light injury. Another twinge in his thigh meant the young dribbler was ruled out for the first half of the season. "The moment I scored the goal, I thought I could finally shift up a gear and really step on the gas. After that, it was a huge disappointment." 

Julien Duranville completed his rehab work back in the Ruhr. He underwent treatment and completed a targeted training programme before making two brief appearances in the final third of the season. The winger says: "I trained extremely hard to prevent injuries. I feel lighter, more relaxed and stronger. I can't wait to help the team reach their maximum potential."