The 21-year-old Spaniard has been a Borussia Dortmund player since July 2019. The defender had made 29 appearances for BVB in all competitions (0 goals, 4 assists) by the end of the 2020/21 season, in addition to helping the Black & Yellows on their way to lifting the DFB-Pokal in 2021.

Signed with the future in mind, right-back Mateu Morey arrived at Borussia Dortmund ahead of the 2019/20 season. The Spain youth international, an U17 European champion in 2017, was handed a contract tying him to the club until 2024 – with the aim being to gradually integrate him in the Bundesliga and, in the long run, make him Lukasz Piszczek's replacement. Morey is widely regarded as one of the most talented young right-backs in Europe.

Having made five Bundesliga appearances in the 2019/20 campaign, he made a further 13 in 2020/21 – 10 of them in the starting XI. But then in the DFB-Pokal semi-final against Holstein Kiel, despite there being no challenge from an opponent, he suffered a serious ligament and capsule injury in his right knee and needed to undergo surgery. It is the second serious injury in his young career, having missed almost all of the 2018/19 campaign while still a Barcelona player.

Mateu Morey Bauza was born in Palma de Mallorca and spent his early youth career with Real Mallorca before moving to "La Masia", Barcelona's world-renowned youth academy, at the age of 15. He played a decisive role in Spain's triumph at the U17 European Championships in 2017, scoring in the penalty shootouts against Germany in the semi-final and England in the final – having also netted in normal time in the latter. When he won the UEFA Youth League with Barça a year later, an English media outlet lauded him as "the next Lahm". Like Philipp Lahm, the former captain of the German national team, Mateu Morey possesses a diminutive stature but makes up for it with his above-average intelligence.

His transfer to Borussia Dortmund followed at the age of 19. "I felt I was at the point where the time was ripe for the next step. It wasn't an easy decision, but after much consideration, my family and I decided to end the wonderful time I had at Barcelona and start a new and exciting adventure." The 1.73m-tall full-back has been a Black & Yellow since the summer of 2019. "It all felt slightly strange at the time," he told members' magazine BORUSSIA in February 2021. "I came here and didn't understand anything. I was fortunate to have several team-mates back then who spoke Spanish: Sergio (Gómez), Leo (Balerdi), Achraf (Hakimi) and Paco (Alcácer). Axel (Witsel) and Mats (Hummels) also spoke some Spanish. They made everything considerably easier. I then started to take German lessons. Now I can understand quite a lot and speak a bit of German too."

Getting used to the climate hasn't been easy. "It's a real challenge to adapt to this weather." But: "In general, I can only say good things about my team-mates and the people here. There's a lot of mutual respect. That's something that I'd like to take on board for myself."