Felix Nmecha

The 23-year-old midfielder has been a Borussia Dortmund player since July 2023 and has made 29 appearances for BVB across all competitions (two goals, two assists) as of July 2024 (cut-off date for all statistics). 

Felix Nmecha was born in Hamburg on 10 October 2000. His mother is German, his father Nigerian. When Felix was six years old, the family, including his brother Lukas, who was two years older, emigrated to Manchester. In England, the siblings started playing football and were both accepted into Manchester City's youth academy at a young age. In December 2018, coach Pep Guardiola called the midfielder up to the professional squad for the first time (Champions League match against Hoffenheim), and in January 2019 he used him for the first time (League Cup against Burton Albion). At the same time, Felix played for the club's U19s and later for the U23s. After a lengthy injury in the 2019/20 season and the premature cancellation of the youth leagues due to the Coronavirus pandemic, Nmecha's career did not pick up speed again until 2020/21. The 19-year-old was part of the first-team squad on several occasions, including his Champions League debut.

Felix Nmecha joined VfL Wolfsburg together with his brother Lukas in the summer of 2021. “Even when I was young, I looked up to him.” He played in the Bundesliga for the first time on 16.10.21 and was a regular in the team from April 2022 at the latest. In total, he made exactly 50 appearances for VfL (46 of them in the Bundesliga, three goals). ‘He's got pretty good skills, especially on the ball. Despite his height, he finds solutions - under pressure, in tight spaces,’ said Wolfsburg coach Niko Kovac about his protégé in March 2023, when he was called up to the senior German national team for the first time. This is underpinned by remarkable data. The 1.88-metre midfielder is extremely quick (maximum speed 34.67 km/h), hard-working and a strong runner (11.44 kilometres per 90 Bundesliga minutes last season) as well as strong in tackles (59.8% of tackles won).

The 22-year-old sees himself ‘as a number eight' and plays with exactly this number for BVB. “Borussia Dortmund are a great club that I've followed since I was a child. I'm delighted to be part of it now.” He was part of the team that reached the Champions League final, and his winning goal in the 1-0 victory away to Newcastle United on Matchday 3 of the group stage was the "game changer" for the team after two games without a win. He played in 29 of the team's 50 competitive matches in the 2023/24 season, although the Hamburg native had to take a break from mid-November 2023 until the beginning of March 2024 due to a hip injury.