Just before the hour mark in the match against Augsburg, in front of the usual sea of 81,365 fans, 18‑year‑old defender Luca Reggiani found the back of the net for Borussia Dortmund. The sheer elation on the youngster’s face was instantly echoed back at the club’s academy by director Paul Schaffran.
"When we can promote our youngsters into the first team, it gives everyone a sense of hope," Schaffran told Sky Sports. As the academy director, he explained that Reggiani’s breakthrough is part of a broader pattern that Dortmund has deliberately cultivated over the past few seasons.
Another 18‑year‑old Italian, Samuele Inacio, made his Bundesliga debut against Bayern Munich in February and immediately showed he belonged at that level. Six‑year‑old prodigy Mathis Albert, only 16, earned his first senior appearance against Freiburg last Sunday. And 17‑year‑old Mussa Kaba is on the brink of following suit.
"He has been with us since he was 11 and I rate him very highly," Schaffran said of Kaba. All three of those players were recruited from outside the club. "Our philosophy is to build talent from the ground up, but we also need solid pillars already in place," Schaffran explained.
Dortmund therefore offers a clear pathway that reassures both players and their families that there is a realistic route to the senior side. Inacio arrived from Atalanta and Reggiani from Sassuolo.
Schaffran pointed out that in Italy the average centre‑back is often over 30, making it extremely difficult for an 18‑year‑old defender to obtain regular minutes at the highest level. By contrast, Dortmund can give a young centre‑back the chance to develop in a competitive environment.
The notion of Dortmund as a "finishing school" is not new. The club has previously accelerated the careers of the likes of Erling Haaland and Jude Bellingham, who moved to the Ruhr to fast‑track their rise to stardom.
However, recent pressure to deliver results has forced the club to rethink its first‑team recruitment strategy, pushing it to look even younger for hidden gems. This shift places a greater responsibility on Schaffran’s staff to refine raw talent and to adapt the academy’s culture accordingly.
"We changed our vision, our style of how we want to develop players," Schaffran said. "In the past we were primarily focused on winning at youth level.
But winning an under‑17 match means nothing if the player does not become a Bundesliga professional." The new approach flips the old mindset on its head: rather than shielding youngsters from difficulty, the academy now deliberately seeks to expose them to the toughest challenges possible, believing that this will smooth the transition to senior football. According to Schaffran, Dortmund now fields the youngest under‑17 squad in Germany, the youngest under‑19 squad as well, and the youngest team competing in the Premier League International Cup. The club does not expect to win those tournaments; the objective is to over‑challenge the players.
"If we under‑challenge them for a long period, they will not adapt and they will not develop as fully as they could," he explained. "We want them to constantly face new circumstances, faster games, more physical battles, and greater tactical complexity." The philosophy acknowledges that adaptation comes with a temporary dip in efficiency.
"Every time a player is in an adaptation phase, his impact on the game will be lower, which means the chance of winning at that age level decreases," Schaffran noted. "But the developmental upside skyrockets." A key tool in this new methodology is bio‑banding. By using ultrasound scans to determine each player’s true skeletal age, Dortmund can place youngsters in groups that reflect their physical maturity rather than their chronological age.
Six years ago the academy’s composition was heavily skewed: 35 % early developers, 60 % average, and only 5 % late developers. The data revealed that this distribution was more about bias than talent identification.
"The biggest learning from bio‑banding was for the coaches and scouts," Schaffran said. "It forced them to look at players in a completely different way than they did two or three years ago." Scouts who previously chased the players who dominated their age group now pause to consider a 14‑year‑old who may be physically outmatched but possesses exceptional technical ability.
Schaffran cited a specific case of a player who would have been rejected under the old system because he was slower than his peers. Given time to develop at his own pace, that player now has a realistic chance of progressing through the ranks. Rather than imposing quotas, Dortmund focused on education.
This year the academy achieved a balanced mix: roughly 15 % early developers, 70 % average, and 15 % late developers. The distribution reflects a deliberate effort to give each type of player the appropriate challenges. Individual progression sometimes means moving a player out of a comfortable environment.
Both Inacio and Albert were excelling with the under‑19s, prompting Schaffran to promote them to the next level. Albert, in particular, has shown remarkable adaptability.
He featured in Dortmund’s Club World Cup squad, represented the United States at the Under‑17 World Cup, and has toggled between the under‑19s and under‑23s, gaining experience at home and abroad. "He keeps stepping up in so many different environments," Schaffran remarked. Losing top performers can be hard on the youth teams, but the academy’s primary metric is development, not trophies. "If I only cared about winning, I would keep them in the youth side," Schaffran admitted.
"We judge the academy by how many players make the jump to the first team." The alignment between the academy and the senior side has been reinforced by former academy chief Rüdiger Ricken, now a key decision‑maker for the first team. Schaffran regularly attends first‑team squad planning meetings, ensuring that youth prospects are always on the radar. Ricken’s involvement in recruiting many of the current youngsters has streamlined the pathway from academy to senior football. When Schaffran saw Reggiani celebrate his goal, he was reminded of the moment the young defender returned to the academy to share the joy with the under‑12‑to‑15 age groups.
"Luca’s smile back at the academy was priceless," Schaffran said with pride. The club’s conveyor belt of talent, once again, is humming.
In summary, Dortmund’s academy overhaul rests on three pillars: a clear, accelerated pathway to the first team; a culture that deliberately over‑challenges players to foster rapid adaptation; and data‑driven bio‑banding that removes age‑related bias. By embracing these principles, the club hopes to continue producing Bundesliga‑ready talent while maintaining its reputation as one of Europe’s most progressive youth systems.