The 26-year-old midfield maestro has been under contract with Borussia Dortmund since July 2019. As of June 2022 (reference date for all stats), the German international has played 125 games (20 goals, 21 assists) for BVB across all competitions and helped Dortmund on their way to winning the DFB-Pokal in 2021.

Julian Brandt was born on 2 May 1996 in Bremen. He made his first steps in football when he joined local club SC Borgfeld at the age of five. From 2009 to 2011, the attacker played two seasons at FC Oberneuland before the attacking midfielder moved to the youth set-up of VfL Wolfsburg, where, in 2013, he was a member of the team that won the U19 German Championship.

In January 2014, he committed his future to Bayer Leverkusen, who handed him his Bundesliga debut only a few weeks later at just 17 years of age (15 February 2014 against Schalke 04).  Only three days later, his UEFA Champions League debut followed when he came on as a substitute against Paris St. Germain. Brandt’s incredible career trajectory showed no signs of slowing down. As the 2014/15 season wore on, the technically gifted and nimble-footed youngster pinned down a regular place in the Leverkusen starting XI. On 29 May 2016, a few weeks after his 20th birthday, he won his first senior cap for Germany in a friendly match against Slovakia. Later that same year, he travelled to the Rio Olympics with the German Olympic team, where he helped Germany to a silver medal finish.

In an edition at the end of July 2020, kicker magazine devoted its front page to him: "Not all that many footballers are blessed with as much talent as Julian Brandt.  Dortmund's dribbler wows the fans," wrote the football magazine, before describing scenes from the game against Leipzig in December 2019, which was later voted as "Goal of the Month" by viewers of the ARD-Sportschau programme. "Three actions in one fluid movement, South American silkiness combined with ice-cold efficiency, a masterpiece."

"I came to Dortmund simply because it was simply what I wanted to do.  I never wanted to play for just one club," says Julian Brandt. The talented midfielder draws strength from the pure joy his profession brings him and sees himself as a team player: "You have to adapt to the notion that you won't necessarily play all the time."

At heart, he remains a grounded family man who spends as much time as possible with his parents in Bremen or his brother Jannis in Cologne, which helps him in his privileged working life. He listens to his mum Heike, a former handball player, and to his dad Jürgen, who gives his now famous son proper and professional advice whenever it is needed.

"I always try to remind myself of why we all play football: it’s because it gave us so much joy back when we were little kids,'' says Brandt as he discusses his motivation. "The worst thing I can possibly imagine is playing football and no longer enjoying it. If that were ever to happen, I’d have to come to terms with the fact that I’d lost touch with the starting point for everything."

Despite his young age, the 26-year-old has already played 260 Bundesliga games, making him the third youngest Bundesliga player with 250 or more appearances after Eike Immel (Dortmund/Stuttgart) and Karl-Heinz Körbel (Frankfurt). Brandt has been directly involved in 115 goals to date (49 goals, 66 assists).

"This cool blond with the number 19", wrote kicker on 26 July 2020, "is considered the man for the special moments. A difference-maker. And a risk-taker. A fun footballer who makes the heavy stuff look so light and makes effortlessness his trademark. You can see why Diego of all people ("The Bremen one, not Maradona," as Brandt wittily remarked on BVB TV) is his role model. The Brazilian also possessed the gift of doing extraordinary things on the pitch." Just like Julian Brandt does today. He is an expert at pinging long passes in behind, but is equally adept from set-piece situations. Last season, his free-kicks and corners led to seven goals in the league for BVB. Brandt laid on a total of eight assists – only Marco Reus managed more (twelve). And his technical skills also shine through when it comes to scoring goals: in 2021/22, he scored as many goals (nine) as he managed in his first three seasons at BVB (three each).