Borussia Dortmund has lost a highly talented but not always easy youngster in Paris Brunner. The 18-year-old joins AS Monaco – but moves straight on to Belgium
“The door has opened,” said Nuri Sahin about Paris Brunner just a few days ago, “and now it’s all about sticking with it.” But now it is finally clear that the 18-year-old young striker neither wants to go through the door at Borussia Dortmund nor stay there.
As BVB officially announced on Friday, Brunner is moving to AS Monaco with immediate effect and for an alleged transfer fee in the region of five million euros plus a sell-on fee. The Ligue 1 club and Champions League starters, who are coached by former Bundesliga coach Adi Hütter, have given their new signing a contract until 2028, but will loan him out again straight away: Brunner is set to gain match practice with Cercle Brugge, last year’s fourth-placed team in Belgium, in 2024/25.
“We will give Paris time to fit into our team,” said Cercle’s technical director Rembert Vromant: “He is tall and physically strong, but also very agile and has the necessary technical qualities to play in various attacking positions. ”
Fritz Walter Gold Medal 2023
With the loss of the powerful attacker, Dortmund are losing one of the DFB’s top talents, but also a player who was not always easy to deal with: Brunner attracted attention several times during his time at Borussia with indiscipline, and he was temporarily suspended last season. Nevertheless, the BVB management would have liked to extend his contract, but the player, who came of age in February, did not want to sign the above-average first professional contract that had been available to him for nine months.
“We would have loved to tie Paris to Borussia Dortmund for the long term, but unfortunately he didn’t want to go down the path we showed him,” said sporting director Sebastian Kehl: “We thank Paris for his time at BVB and of course wish him all the best for the future.”
Brunner, who BVB signed from VfL Bochum in 2020, was voted best player of the tournament at both the U-17 European Championship and World Cup in 2023 and received the Fritz Walter Gold Medal from the DFB as the best German player of his age group. However, he waited in vain for a call-up for the BVB professionals, some of whom he was allowed to train with as a 17-year-old.