Once celebrated as a Belgian super talent, Julien Duranville ended up on the sidelines in Dortmund. Now FC Basel wants to breathe new life into the 19-year-old - with a loan without an option to buy, but with great potential.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- Julien Duranville is moving from BVB to FC Basel on loan after failing to establish himself in Dortmund and recently only playing in the regional league.
- Basel do not have an option to buy, but will be involved in any future resale and plan to give the talented but injury-prone player plenty of game time.
- Despite form and discipline problems, Duranville is one of the most valuable teenagers in the Super League with a market value of 7.5 million euros.
Borussia Dortmund were delighted at the beginning of 2023 when they were able to acquire the next internationally sought-after talent in Julien Duranville. The then 16-year-old winger came from RSC Anderlecht (10 competitive matches) and was regarded as one of the most talented young professionals in Belgium. The transfer fee is said to have amounted to around 8.5 million euros.
But Duranville was never able to establish himself at BVB. On paper, his 27 appearances for the Bundesliga club don't sound too bad. But the Belgian has never been allowed to play through.
"It's difficult for him to be there, it's just the way it is," BVB coach Niko Kovac summed up his situation at the beginning of December, as Transfermarkt writes. The 19-year-old is good, "but the others are better". The consequence: regional league instead of Bundesliga.
Now FC Basel is redeeming him and loaning Duranville out until the end of the season. Although without an option to buy, FCB will participate in any future sale. The special clause increases the motivation to give Duranville plenty of match practice in order to make a substantial profit. With good performances on the Rhine, Duranville could even theoretically jump on the World Cup bandwagon. The teenager has played two international matches for the Red Devils so far.
Discipline problems in Dortmund
In Duranville, however, Basel have brought in a player who needs a lot of coaching as well as a lot of talent. On the one hand, the young Belgian has had to battle a lot with injuries; on the other, Duranville was late for final training last December and was even dropped from the squad due to "conspicuously listless behavior in training" according to "Kicker ". He also lacks match practice - he last played for Dortmund's first team in May (5 minutes against Kiel).
The 1.73-metre attacking player is likely to replace Phlipe Otele in Ludovic Magnin's team, who will probably leave FC Basel during the winter break.
With a market value of 7.5 million euros on "transfermarkt", Duranville may have lost ground compared to the past, but that would make him the most valuable teenager in the Super League.
