Jamie Gittens: Borussia Dortmund's €100m-rated English wonderkid following in the footsteps of Jude Bellingham & Jadon Sancho with his own breakout season after ditching Man City

Gittens was born and raised in Reading and started playing football with his classmates shortly after starting primary school before joining local team Caversham Trents U6 or U7s. "I used to just kick a ball around, chase it and do it every single day," he told the Bundesliga's official website. "I really enjoyed these times - so much fun...

"From there, I had a trial at Chelsea and Reading as well, but I picked Reading because it is closer to my home. I was in Reading from Under-9s until Under-14s. But then I went to Manchester City for two years."

Just like Jadon Sancho, though, Gittens decided to leave the Etihad outfit for Dortmund before he'd even made a single appearance at senior level for the club. He wasn't considered quite as advanced as Sancho at the time - he was still only 16 when he moved to Germany - but BVB were cautiously optimistic that Gittens would prove just as shrewd a signing.

"Our scouting department has done a fantastic job!" Dortmund sporting director Michael Zorc enthused in September 2020. "He is a highly talented wide player, who will get the chance to develop at his own pace in our youth teams.

"We don't want expectations to be raised too high right from the start. He is still a year younger than Jadon was then… but the hope is that at some point he will be promoted to the professional team."

Gittens would have to bide his time, though.

Gittens' early days in Dortmund were tough. There were the usual struggles with homesickness and the difficulty always involved in trying to adapt to a new country and new language - but the teenager's integration was greatly complicated by the fact that he arrived during lockdown, meaning he spent an awful lot of time "stuck in the youth house on academy campus".

Gittens was also sidelined by an ankle injury and recurring issues in both shoulders that significantly stunted his rate of progress.

However, Dortmund were in no doubt that Gittens would prove worth the wait and he eventually made his debut in April 2022 before netting his first Bundesliga goal in August of the same year.

It was only after shaking off the effects of his shoulder problems that Gittens really began to show what he could do and, on the evening of November 28, 2023, he starred at San Siro, scoring one goal and creating another in a 3-1 victory over AC Milan that secured Dortmund qualification for the last 16 of the Champions League.

"That was the perfect game for me," Gittens enthused in a post-match interview with UEFA's official website.

Just over a year ago, Jude Bellingham hailed his former Dortmund team-mate Gittens as a potential Golden Boy winner - we're now seeing exactly why.

Gittens has taken his game to a whole other level this season. A player who had previously scored five times in 58 appearances for Dortmund in all competitions has nine goals in 20 outings so far this season, including four in his last four games.

"It's not news to me that he's incredible one-on-one and is a very good finisher," coach Nuri Sahin said recently. "But now he’s scoring goals and playing more mature football. He's a very important player for us.

"[But] Jamie himself wants to take the next step, and we want him to take that step."

Gittens will be the first to admit that in the past he was too preoccupied with showing off his sensational skillset, more concerned with embarrassing opponents than helping his team-mates. However, he's becoming as efficient as he is entertaining.

Obviously, his pace has always made him a problem for full-backs but he's now become almost unstoppable when he starts with the stepovers.

Teams have taken to doubling up on him and yet, as he's illustrated in several Bundesliga and Champions League games already this season, it doesn't appear to make a difference.

The outcome is, as Dortmund's social media team have revelled in pointing out, as inevitable as Thanos.

The primary concern with Gittens is that the shoulder problems that plagued him for about five years, from the age of 14 on, will eventually return.

However, he says that he's not suffered any setbacks since undergoing surgery on both joints, while he's also doing a lot of "stabilisation and strength work" to avoid any future issues.

Dortmund legend Paul Lambert is among those to have noted that Gittens appears to have bulked up over the summer and appears more physically capable for the rigours of the professional game.

Sahin is also pleased with the progress Gittens is making with the defensive side of his game, after initial concerns over his work-rate.

"You can see he’s grown as a person," the BVB boss said on Tuesday. "And that shows on the pitch. He's made big strides in his work without the ball. He's defending and pressing better."

Gittens' fine form, coupled with the fact that he's represented England at nearly every age grade up to Under-21s, has sparked talk of a transfer to a top Premier League club, with Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham all reportedly interested. Dortmund are already said to value him at around €100 million (£83m/$106m).

It's also been claimed that Dortmund see him as their next big sale, after Ousmane Dembele, Christian Pulisic, Jadon Sancho, Erling Haaland and Jude Bellingham.

However, the word coming out of BVB is that they are determined to hold onto Gittens for a good while yet - his current contract runs until 2028 - and the player himself is said to be keen to repay the club for standing by him during his injury issues.

How long he will end up staying is, therefore, anyone's guess at this stage. But what is clear right now is that Dortmund have done it again: they've recruited and refined another top English talent more than capable of following in the footsteps of Sancho and Bellingham by becoming a star at Signal Iduna Park.