Marcel Lotka

The 22-year-old goalkeeper has been under contract with Borussia Dortmund since July 2022. He previously played for Hertha BSC. He played in 30 third-division matches for BVB's U23 squad up by June 2023 (cut-off date for all information) and made five appearances in the professional squad.

Marcel Lotka: A child of the Ruhr region

Lotka is a child of the Ruhr region. Born in Duisburg, he played for MSV until the age of 13. A year at FC Schalke 04 was followed by two more seasons at Rot-Weiss Essen and three more years at Bayer Leverkusen until the end of his youth years. For the 2020/21 season, the 1.90 metre tall goalkeeper moved to the second team of Hertha BSC in the Regionalliga Nordost as second goalkeeper. Here he made a total of eleven appearances in one and a half years, until December 2021.

The path to the Bundesliga

As a result of injuries and illnesses to the goalkeepers ahead of him in the club hierarchy, Lotka sat on the bench with the professionals in the Bundesliga from matchday 21 of the 2021/22 season and stood between the posts for the first time on 26 February 2022 in Freiburg. Although the game ended in a 3-0 defeat, then coach Tayfun Korkut ‘relied on Lotka's carefree attitude’. In the final game of the season at BVB (1:2), the then 21-year-old suffered a concussion and missed the play-off matches against Hamburger SV, which were ultimately successful. Lotka suffered the injury when he hit his face against the post shortly before half-time.

From the U23s to the pros

At Borussia Dortmund, the talented goalkeeper is being prepared for higher tasks via the U23s. He put in a strong performance as the team's number one in the 3rd division. He only conceded 35 goals in 30 games. In the ‘kicker ranking’ for the 2022/23 third division season, he was listed in second place.