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BVB sign Fidjeu-Tazemeta, Etcibasi and Reggiani for the U17s
"The fact we're making three transfers in the winter is unusual. But we needed to be very quick because we were in competition with much financially stronger clubs from Europe over Luca and Thierry and are very happy that after visiting us in Dortmund, they absolutely and only wanted to join BVB," explained Lars Ricken, the Director of the Youth Performance Centre.
Taycan Etcibasi is returning to BVB from FC Schalke 04. The striker moved to Gelsenkirchen with his coach at the time at the age of 11. The now 16-year-old is a current Germany U17 international who has made five international appearances this season and crowned his debut against Israel by scoring two goals. In the derby fixture that Borussia Dortmund recently won 3-2 away to FC Schalke 04, Etcibasi scored both opposition goals. "We never lost contact with Taycan. We had already agreed a transfer with him in the summer. But a door has now opened at Schalke 04, meaning we were able to bring this transfer forward as well," said Lars Ricken, who is delighted to have acquired a "really good striker and goalscorer".
Luca Reggiani, who celebrated his 16th birthday in January, joins from the U17s of top-flight Italian club US Sassuolo, plays at centre-back and is captain of the U16 national team. "Luca still needs to get used to Bundesliga football, but he is an exceptional talent who will bring us a lot of joy," said U17 coach Marco Lehmann.
Thierry Fidjeu-Tazemeta, who is 16 years old and 1.92m tall, played as a striker for St. Pölten's academy in the U18 ÖFB-Jugendliga. The Austria junior international (five matches for the U17s, 11 for the U16s) is described by Marco Lehmann as "extremely dangerous in front of goal and fast. He is a player who will bring significantly more physicality to our team."
"These are three top talents that we didn't just bring in to make the U17s better in the second half-season, but because we see great potential in them," explained Lars Ricken.