Christmas has come early for the U23s of Borussia Dortmund with the signing of Cyrill Akono.
Newly promoted in 2021, Dortmund’s second-string side ‘Die Amas’, who play in the 3. Liga, finished 13th in their first season under Enrico Maaßen, who has since left for the role of head coach at Bundesliga side Augsburg, and things haven’t exactly gone that well for Borussia Dortmund II since.
Christian Preußer’s side, at the halfway point of the season, are currently two points off a relegation spot. In particular, the forwards have been a source of concern so far. Only 13 goals have been scored, a tally only matched by newly promoted bottom-placed SpVgg Bayreuth. In particular the summer departure of English-Swiss striker Bradley Fink to FC Basel left the side diminished in terms of an effective goal-scoring threat.
Justin Njinmah, who scored 14 goals in 18 games for Werder Bremen’s U23s, has disappointed this season, picking up only two goals in his 13 appearances for BVB so far. Also Jayden Braaf a new signing from Manchester City in the summer has been criticised, having failed to make any impact in the seven games he has played in for ‘Die Schwarz-Gelben’.
The news that a new striker has been signed couldn’t have come early enough for the relegation-threatened side. The new addition is Akono. The 22-year-old who joins from league rivals SC Verl has scored 44 goals in 134 matches in his career so far. His former clubs include Mainz 05 U23s, Preußen Münster and VfB Lübeck. No details have been made available about the transfer fee, however the player’s records on Transfermarkt reveal the centre-forward, who is quoted as having a market value of €280,000 has a contract until 2024.
Commenting on the new contract, the Cameroonian-German who made his debut for Germany U19s against Denmark in the 2019/20 season said: “I’m really looking forward to this awesome club and I’m just happy that this transfer has finally worked out.” The signing has been welcomed by BVB II sporting director Ingo Preuß: “We’ve been interested in Cyrill for some time and are happy that we’ve now been able to realize this transfer. Cyrill has a lot of potential.”
Commenting on the departure, Verl’s sporting director Sebastian Lange said: “Of course we would have liked to keep Ako and it is difficult, especially as it is to a direct competitor but we will not put obstacles in the way of players if they have the opportunity to move to a bigger club and want to take the next step in their career.”
GGFN | Ben McFadyean
