Borussia Dortmund and midfielder Nuri Sahin have prematurely signed a contract extension until 30 June 2019. The Turkey international, who was born in Lüdenscheid and grew up in Meinerzhagen, has – with the exception of two brief spells away from the club – been a Black and Yellow for 16 years.

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"We're all delighted Nuri's staying with us. He grew up in the region, he's a really good guy and Borussia Dortmund is deeply ingrained in him," explained BVB Chief Executive Officer Hans-Joachim Watzke.

The 28-year-old, who has had dual German and Turkish nationality since 2011, joined the Borussia Dortmund youth academy in the summer of 2001. Aged 16 years and 355 days he became the youngest player to ever play in the Bundesliga, and is the top-flight's youngest-ever goalscorer too. Since making his debut in 2005, he has played for the club 203 times, scoring 19 goals. Sahin was a central figure in the title-winning season of 2010/11 and was selected for the Bundesliga Team of the Season by his fellow professionals. In the summer of 2011 he fulfilled his dream of moving to Real Madrid, but returned to his roots a year and a half later following a brief loan spell at English club Liverpool.

"Everyone knows how comfortable I feel in Dortmund – both in the city and in this stadium with our extraordinary fans. BVB is the club that belongs to my heart," said the midfielder, who is now in his 12th season as a professional.

"Even though Nuri has had some bad luck with injuries in the past couple of years, he has still repeatedly shown that he can come back and fulfil a very important role in our young team," emphasised Sporting Director Michael Zorc, who wished Sahin a speedy recovery after the player sustained a partial tear of the lateral collateral ligament in his ankle in the match with Borussia Mönchengladbach. Hans-Joachim Watzke and Michael Zorc both said: "We hope that Nuri can still make a comeback in the final weeks of the season. The high quality he offers in sporting and personal terms will undoubtedly help us to achieve our season objectives!"