Julian Ryerson

Julian Ryerson has been with Borussia Dortmund since January 2023 and has turned out to be an important signing thanks to his mentality and versatility. He can play on the right or the left in a back-four or also on either side as a wing-back in a system with a back-three. “At Union, I even played as a striker in an away match in Bremen. The most important thing for me is to be on the pitch,” he said about his versatility. “But that is certainly a quality that I can use flexibly. Already in my youth, when I played with the older kids, I changed positions: centre-back, full-back, central midfield, right wing. I got to know football from all positions.”

The agile and aggressive Ryerson has his strengths not only on the defensive end, but also going forward. In his first 67 Bundesliga games for Borussia Dortmund, he scored an impressive seven goals – the goal to give ten-man BVB a 3-1 victory at TSG Hoffenheim in September 2023 and the goal to make it 2-0 in March 2024 at Bayern Munich were the result of remarkable solo efforts, putting his strength of will and endless energy resources on display. In the 2024/25 season, he put in the most crosses of all BVB players (56) and provided three assists.

Julian Ryerson made his debut at the age of 17, playing for Viking Stavanger’s in the highest division in his home country. Even before his 20th birthday, he had developed into a regular member of the first team, but his side were relegated from the top division in 2017. In 2018, he moved to Union Berlin, but was not yet a regular in the Berlin side as they made their way from the second tier to the Bundesliga. That all changed in December 2020. Having flitted between the stands and the bench (with many short appearances) for the first nine games of the season, he was only out of the starting line-up six times until the end of the season. He also rose his way up the club's internal hierarchy, becoming vice-captain.

“I emigrated to Germany at the age of 15. I left Lyngdal when I switched to Viking. So now I have been living alone for ten years. That certainly helped me with this step. I was always independent,” he told the BORUSSIA members’ magazine (August 2023 issue): “German was a new language for me, even though I learned a few bits at school. But when you’re so focused on football, you'll learn the most important words quickly. Nevertheless, the beginning in particular was a challenge. Nothing was just given to me. My direct competitor in the position in Berlin was the captain, Christopher Trimmel. Taking on tasks like that makes you grow.” In total, he made 109 competitive appearances for Union before moving to BVB in mid-January 2023. “Something special had to come up for me to move away from Berlin. And Borussia Dortmund is a club that is very special, so I didn’t have to think about it for long.”

Julian Ryerson has been a Norway international since the U18s. He made his debut for the senior side on 18 November 2020 in a 1-1 draw with Austria.