"I knew how brilliant my new club would be"

Belgium's most talented young footballer has been keeping tabs on BVB ever since and has watched with interest as top talents like Ousmane Dembélé and Jadon Sancho took the last big step of their sporting development in Dortmund. That has encouraged him to take this path too. Julien Duranville has been here since January. After recovering from a muscle injury, he is now in the thick of it and has been warmly welcomed.

His team-mates stop for a break a few minutes before noon, but the day still has some stoppage time in store for Julien Duranville. Rain is falling down onto the BVB Training Centre in Brackel, it was a difficult session on a difficult surface; but the Belgium junior international bounds happily up the stairs to the first floor of the sporting headquarters with a spring in his step. He is delighted that the BVB photographer has brought a box with him containing the first autograph cards of his career. Julien is wearing a black hoody and is carrying a grey folder under his arm. He quickly shakes hands with his German teacher. "Bonjour... errr: Guten Tag!"

The following 90 minutes of this cold and rainy Tuesday will not be dedicated to crosses, shots and goals – but to verbs, articles and pronouns instead. As the complete professional footballer also needs the ability to communicate, Julien Duranville is undergoing language lessons that have been specially customised to his needs. It's not so much about reciting Goethe verses. "Julien is not supposed to write essays, but to score goals," said German teacher Michael Mangesius. The duo meet up two or three times a week and devote their full concentration to the basics of the German language, but there's no shortage of fun. A few weeks ago, for example, there was an extremely funny scene in which Marcel Reif and Lars Ricken featured as the supporting and lead actors respectively – but more on that later.

Julien Duranville is 16 years old, grew up in the vicinity of Brussels and came through the ranks as a footballer at RSC Anderlecht. He made his first appearance for Anderlecht in the Belgian top flight 17 days after celebrating his 16th birthday; he followed that up with his first goal in his second game, firing into the left corner from a standing position on the left corner of the box. He's a quick and tricky striker – so quick and so tricky that back home they call him "L’Éclair" – Lightning. Many clubs coveted him, but it was BVB that got the green light at the beginning of 2023.

The signing of Julien Duranville is part of Dortmund's strategy of tying down highly talented youngsters early on and shaping them as they take the decisive steps towards a professional career. That is what sporting directors Michael Zorc and Sebastian Kehl have already done with the likes of Ousmane Dembélé, Christian Pulisic, Jadon Sancho, Gio Reyna, Erling Haaland and Jude Bellingham. Julien Duranville is to be the next name on this illustrious list. "Julien is a quick, technically strong and creative winger in whom we see great potential," said Sebastian Kehl. The message behind that is clear. When BVB bring in a player from overseas, it is not to strengthen the U23s but to prepare him for the Bundesliga stage – naturally always in the hope that there will be as many years together as possible.

A warm welcome to Dortmund, Julien! The whole world wanted you – what proved to be the decisive reason behind your transfer to BVB?

"I think it's fantastic how young players are developed here. You know, I've been a fan of Ousmane Dembélé since I was a young boy. I love the way he plays football and absolutely wanted to know at the time which club that was down to. That drew my attention to BVB properly for the first time. Jadon Sancho was then the final argument. A great footballer, who – like Dembélé and I – is at home on the wing." 

Sancho and Dembélé used to wear the No. 7 shirt at BVB. Just like you did as a youth player at Anderlecht...

"Yes, it's a funny parallel, but nothing more. I've never really been all that interested in shirt numbers. When I joined the RSC Anderlecht first team last summer at the age of 16, I wore 59. Why? They simply gave it to me and I didn't want to make any big demands. In Dortmund the 16 was free, that fits. I feel very comfortable here."

BVB is apparently a good place for players from Belgium.

"Oh yes, we take note of that back home! Axel Witsel played a brilliant four years here; now I'm delighted to be in the company of Thomas Meunier. He helps me to integrate, particularly with regard to the language. In addition to him, there are also two more players, Sébastian Haller and Rapha Guerreiro, who speak my mother tongue. And all the others speak perfect English, which really facilitates my communication with the entire team. But in the medium term, I of course want to make myself understood in German."

The first weeks at BVB were challenging. While his father remained in their homeland to take care of his two younger siblings, who are still at school, Julien took a hotel room with his mother. The family are planning to be reunited in Dortmund once the summer holidays are over. In addition, a muscle injury that he brought with him from Anderlecht hampered the new Black & Yellow in his first few weeks, but he has been allowed to up the intensity since the beginning of March. In first-team training – and, for slightly longer, in his German lessons. On this cold and wet Tuesday, Michael Mangesius is teaching him phrases that typically come up in football and in everyday life. Julien unfolds the grey folder, pulls out his worksheets and says: "I play the game." – "Speaking is easy." – "Dortmund is my city." Appropriate questions follow; Michael Mangesius asks them in French, Julien answers in German: 

"D‘où vient Gregor Kobel?" – "Gregor Kobel kommt aus der Schweiz" ("Gregor Kobel comes from Switzerland.") 

"Avec quelle équipe t‘es-tu entraîné aujourd‘hui?" – "Ich habe heute mit den Profis trainiert." ("I trained with the first team today.")

"Pour quel club joues-tu?" – "Ich spiele für Borussia Dortmund." ("I play for Borussia Dortmund.")

"Quand as-tu vu jouer le Borussia Dortmund pour la première fois?" 

When did he watch his new club for the first time? That's a question that takes Julien Duranville back to his early childhood. He was eight years old when BVB paid a visit to Anderlecht's Constant Vanden Stock Stadium for a Champions League group-stage game in October 2014. Jürgen Klopp was still in the dugout back then, with Sebastian Kehl pulling the strings in midfield. Mats Hummels replaced Sven Bender shortly before the end, while Marco Reus missed out through injury. But Julien Duranville featured – as a mascot walking out by the side of Anderlecht striker Frank Acheampong. He can still recall a "wonderful experience" today, even in spite of the result: BVB ran out comfortable 3-0 winners that day thanks to a brace from Adrian Ramos and a goal from Ciro Immobile.

You played for Anderlecht since you were seven years old and progressed through all the teams to the senior side. How difficult was the new start at the start of this year? 

"A sense of joy prevailed to begin with, as I knew how brilliant my new club would be. I talked about it very intensively with my team-mates. It only really hit me when the day came to say goodbye and I went to Germany with my parents. Let's put it this way: the decision to join BVB was easy, but saying goodbye was more difficult."

What's your plan for the immediate future?

"First of all, I had to undergo rehabilitation here due to the muscular injury in my thigh. Now I need to work in a focused manner in order to 100% regain my flexibility and my competitive strength. The important thing is that I integrate into the group, and I of course hope to be able to play a few minutes at some point. I'm already having a lot of fun swapping positions with Karim Adeyemi in training. From left to right and back again. I envisage how we could confuse the opposition in a game, even if it won't be for a while yet. I don't let that drive me crazy and want to progress bit by bit." 

Where do you see the biggest differences between football in the Belgian league and the Bundesliga?

"The game in Germany is a great deal faster. And it's a battle until the referee blows the final whistle. All teams here show a 'mentalité guerrière', as we say in Belgium – a real warrior mentality. Please don't misunderstand me, that's not supposed to sound military. I'm simply trying to say that the Germans always want to win!"

This fits quite nicely with a video that shows Julien Duranville at the very start of his time in the purple and white jersey of RSC Anderlecht. The boy wearing the No. 7 on his back can be seen dribbling and scoring goals. During the subsequent trophy celebrations, he stands right on periphery; he is the smallest in the team and repeatedly stretches an arm into the middle in order to at least touch the cup once. Julien laughs. Yes, he knows and likes the video. "That's what it's about in football. You want to win games and cups, again and again. That is of course my goal in Dortmund too."

He cites his Belgian compatriot Romelu Lukaku as his role model in this regard. The man has already become a champion in Italy and a cup winner in England. At 1.90 metres in height and 100 kilograms in weight, he's a very different type of player to the small, nimble-footed Julien Duranville. "Big Rom", as they call Lukaku in his homeland, is a product of the Lily Whites' academy like Julien. He left Anderlecht at 18 and following spells at Chelsea, West Bromwich Albion, Everton and Manchester United, he is now plying his trade for Inter in Milan. But Lukaku has never lost touch with his roots. "Big Rom is like a big brother to me," Julien said. "I can call him at any time and he always takes time to listen to me." 

Lukaku has long since been a legend at RSC Anderlecht. Alongside the likes of Paul van Himst, Frank Vercauteren and Rob Rensenbrink. The equivalents at Dortmund are Lothar Emmerich, Adi Preißler, Matthias Sammer and Lars Ricken. And that links back nicely to the funny story that was mentioned at the outset. Because German teacher Michael Mangesius always tries to make the lessons a little more varied, he likes to go off on a tangent with his students and explore Dortmund's club history. What happened to Emma's left foot? Who had his wound stapled up on the sidelines? Why is the truth always on the pitch? And what was so special about the all-important goal in the 1997 Champions League victory? Michael Mangesius brought along a video showing Ottmar Hitzfeld bringing the then 20-year-old striker Lars Ricken on in the final against Juventus, who immediately runs towards the Turin side's goal. The TV reporter Marcel Reif commentates off-camera, with German teacher Mangesius prompting him: "Ricken! Lob him now! Yes!", and at that exact moment Lars Ricken runs across the corridor. Now 46, he is always busy working in Brackel as the director of the Youth Performance Centre and is a little surprised to hear his name suddenly being shouted so loudly.

As a startled Lars Ricken pokes his head into the classroom where Julien Duranville and Michael Mangesius are working, the duo spontaneously burst out laughing. What a great moment! What a great club!

Author: Sven Goldmann

Photographers: Alexandre Simoes, Marco Donato

The text was taken from the members' magazine BORUSSIA. BVB members receive BORUSSIA free of charge every month. Click here to become a member.