Kjell Wätjen, 18, signed his first professional contract on Wednesday. BVB have thus prematurely tied down their talented youngster until 30 June 2028. The Germany junior international has been playing for the Black & Yellows since U10 level.

"Kjell has developed really well in recent years and absolutely deserves this step. He has drawn attention to himself with his strong performances for our U19s in both the Bundesliga and the UEFA Youth League and has steadily worked his way up towards the first-team squad. We believe his development is a long way from over," commented sporting director Sebastian Kehl.

Wätjen's BVB story reads like a childhood dream come true. His great talent was spotted back in 2014 during an Easter holiday course at the "BVB Evonik Football Academy". He made the leap to the Youth Performance Centre the following year, was called up by the DFB youth teams, helped his team-mates to win the U17 European Championship in 2023 and has been a regular member of BVB head coach Edin Terzic's training group since the 2024 winter training camp in Marbella. Sebastian Kehl declared: "We're very pleased that we as a club have been able to develop Kjell from an early age up to this point thanks to the outstanding work at our youth academy. Now he's taking his first steps in men's football and we're confident that Kjell's qualities and personality will enable him to establish himself within our first-team."

Wätjen said: "Although I'm still very young, I've already been able to play for the club of my heart for many years – and I'm really keen to be able to do so with the first team in the years to come."