Julian Brandt

The 28-year-old midfielder has been a Borussia Dortmund player since July 2019. The Germany international has made 216 competitive appearances for BVB (40 goals / 50 assists) up to June 2024 (cut-off date for all statistics) and was part of the team that won the DFB-Pokal in 2021.

Julian Brandt was born in Bremen on 2 May 1996 and started out as a five-year-old at suburban club SC Borgfeld. From 2009 to 2011, he played for FC Oberneuland for two years before the attacking player moved to VfL Wolfsburg's youth training centre. He became German U19 champion in 2013.

In January 2014, he joined Bayer Leverkusen, where he made his first Bundesliga appearance a few weeks later (15 February 2014 against Schalke 04) as a 17-year-old. This was followed just three days later by his debut in the UEFA Champions League (as a substitute in the match against Paris St. Germain). Julian Brandt's career continued to soar. At the start of the 2014/15 second half of the season, the technically adept talent with a strong burst of pace became a regular in the Werkself. On 29 May 2016, he played his first senior international match in a friendly against Slovakia just a few weeks after his 20th birthday. In the same year, he won the silver medal with the Olympic team at the Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Kicker dedicated a cover story to him at the end of July 2020. ‘Not too many footballers are blessed with as much talent as Julian Brandt. The Dortmund dribbler wows the crowd,’ wrote the trade magazine, describing a scene from a match against Leipzig in December 2019, which was later named goal of the month by viewers of the ARD sports programme: “Three actions in one fluid movement, South American suppleness paired with ice-cold efficiency, a masterpiece.”

“I went to Dortmund because I simply wanted to. I don't just want to sell myself to a club,’ he said after his move in the summer of 2019. Four years later, he extended his contract and emphasised: ’It's well known that I feel very comfortable here. I was never in any talks or listened to other offers. It was clear to me from the outset that I still see myself at BVB, and that's how I approached our talks.”

The fact that he is a grounded family man who visits his parents in Bremen or his brother Jannis in Cologne as often as possible helps him in his privileged everyday life. He listens to his mum Heike, a former handball player, and his dad Jürgen, who advises his prominent son discreetly and professionally at all times. “I always try to remember why we actually play football: because we enjoyed it when we were little,” he says, describing his motivation. “It would be the worst thing for me if you could see that I no longer enjoyed football, because then I would have to admit that I had lost the basis for everything.”

 “This cool blonde with the number 19,” it says in kicker on 26 July 2020, “is considered the man for the special occasion. As a difference maker. And as a great player. A fun footballer who makes the difficult look so easy and elevates ease to his trademark.” You can guess why Diego of all people (‘The Bremen man, not Maradona’, as Brandt wittily remarked on BVB TV) is his role model. The Brazilian had the gift of achieving extraordinary things on the pitch. Just like Julian Brandt today. He not only knows how to pass deep, but can also skilfully deliver dead balls. In 2023/24, five of his corners led to a goal. Overall, he provided 16 assists in the past season across all competitions, and scored ten goals himself. He scored five of his six league goals when his team were leading, and the sixth was an equaliser. He also created more chances than any other BVB player (76, only Stöger, Honorat and Simons had more league-wide) and, taking into account his 34 shots on goal, he also had the most shots-on-goal involvements (110).

The versatile player has no fixed position at BVB: he has already played up front, as a ten, on the left and right wing, as an eight and as the more offensive part of the double six. A player who is so versatile and almost never injured always gets playing time: in the last eight Bundesliga seasons, Brandt has always played at least 31 games per season and has rarely been injured.