It is four years ago now that Youssoufa Moukoko dug the ball out from under his feet to spark a comeback for Borussia Dortmund against Bayern Munich. In the previous home game, he had headed in the winning goal against Schalke in the Revierderby. Back then, Moukoko appeared to have the world at his feet.
He was 17 years old and scoring goals in front of the biggest crowds in Europe. The following month he bagged two from outside the box against Bochum, one with his left and one with his right. Those performances took him to the World Cup with Germany that winter and he was being hailed as a phenomenon.
But on the fourth anniversary of that goal against Bayern, Moukoko is not even close to being among the 44 names in Jurgen Klopp's squad. Instead, Moukoko finds himself on the bench for a struggling outfit in Turkey, his loan move to Corum having yielded only three substitute appearance so far. Copenhagen remain his parent club but he departed Denmark after a goalless start to the campaign.
It is not the first move that has not worked out as planned. He left Dortmund for Nice in search of more opportunities in 2024 and scored twice in his first Ligue 1 start. But those proved to be his only goals that season.
Moukoko looks like he has lost his way. Everyone has a theory, some more incendiary than other. The most controversial was floated in Der Spiegel, suggesting that Moukoko had been adopted by his father Joseph and was actually four years older than his registered birth certificate had suggested.
Although Joseph denied that at the time, he indicated in a subsequent documentary in 2024 that the claims were true. Moukoko has never publicly accepted this and Dortmund have been clear that the official records show that his birthdate is as stated. But even if it were true, and there is no conclusive proof that it is, it would only be part of the story.
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