Kjell Wätjen
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Kjell-Arik Wätjen | |||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 16 February 2006 | |||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Gevelsberg, Germany | |||||||||||||
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) | |||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | |||||||||||||
| Team information | ||||||||||||||
Current team | Borussia Dortmund | |||||||||||||
| Number | 38 | |||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||
| 2010–2015 | FSV Gevelsberg | |||||||||||||
| 2015– | Borussia Dortmund | |||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||
| 2024– | Borussia Dortmund | 5 | (0) | |||||||||||
| International career‡ | ||||||||||||||
| 2021–2022 | Germany U16 | 8 | (1) | |||||||||||
| 2022–2023 | Germany U17 | 7 | (2) | |||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 19:30, 15 December 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 18:22, 5 May 2024 (UTC) | ||||||||||||||
Kjell-Arik Wätjen (born February 16, 2006) is a German football player. The midfielder plays for Borussia Dortmund. Wätjen became European champion with the German U17 team in 2023.
Club career
[edit]Wätjen started playing club football in the Ruhr area in the G-youth of FSV Gevelsberg. At the age of nine years, he moved to Borussia Dortmund in 2015, after playing well at an academy training tournament a year before.[1] In his second season for the U17s team in 2022–23, the midfielder led the team as captain and set up six goals for his teammates in 12 games in the B-Junioren Bundesliga, in addition to scoring three times himself. He then became a permanent member of the BVB U19 squad in the summer of 2023, as did striker Paris Brunner. The German immediately became a regular in central midfield in the Under 19 Bundesliga. At the end of February 2024, alongside Youssoufa Moukoko and Julien Duranville, he was one of three U20 players in the squad for the Champions League round of 16 first leg against PSV Eindhoven.[2] Earlier that month, Wätjen had already been on the bench for the goalless draw against 1. FC Heidenheim in the men's Bundesliga after scoring seven goals in five consecutive games with the U19s.[3]
At the end of March 2024, Wätjen signed a professional contract with Borussia Dortmund valid until June 2028.[4] He was then part of Edin Terzić's squad in other games and won the championship in the western league with the Dortmund A-Youth team. On matchday 32 of the 2023–24 season, Wätjen made his Bundesliga debut for Borussia in the 5–1 home win against FC Augsburg, where he was in the starting eleven and set up Marco Reus' fourth goal.[5]
On 7 May 2024, Wätjen wrote his final high school exams before travelling to Paris on the same day and joining his club's squad in the Champions League semi-final against Paris Saint-Germain, which Dortmun won.
Wätjen would be part of the squad, that lost with 2–0 against Real Madrid in the final of the 2024 UEFA Champions League, but remained unused.
International career
[edit]Wätjen first played for Germany at U16 level. With the U17s, he took part in the European U17-Championships in Hungary in May 2023 alongside Dortmund teammates Paris Brunner, Almugera Kabar and Charles Herrmann.[6] He reached the final undefeated with the national team, scoring a stoppage-time goal in a 3–0 victory against Scotland in the group stage,[7] before clinching the title against France by winning on penalties.[8]
Wätjen rejected a call up to Germany's squad for the U17 World Cup in Indonesia in winter 2023 due to upcoming high school exams. His national team won the tournament.
Career statistics
[edit]Club
[edit]- As of match played 15 December 2024
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Borussia Dortmund | 2023–24 | Bundesliga | 2 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2024–25 | Bundesliga | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 3 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | ||
Personal life
[edit]Born in Germany, Wätjen is of Italian descent through his mother. Because of his first name, as well as his father's surname, he was erroneously reported to be of Swedish descent by Transfermarkt. His father is from Northern Germany, where Nordic first and surnames are no rarity. After the fake news regarding his ancestry spread, the Swedish Football Association made immediate efforts to ensure his services.[9]
Honours
[edit]- Club
Borussia Dortmund
- A-Junioren-Bundesliga West: 2024
- UEFA Champions League runner-up: 2024
- International
Germany U17
References
[edit]- ^ KGaA, Borussia Dortmund GmbH & Co (4 May 2024). "Kjell Wätjen besucht die BVB Evonik Fußballakademie". www.bvb.de (in German). Retrieved 4 May 2024.
- ^ "Toptalent Wätjen soll gegen PSV auf der Bank dabei sein - das ist wohl ein strategischer Schritt des BVB" (in German). Tribuna.com. 20 February 2024.
- ^ "BVB-Kader im Überblick: Wätjen gegen Heidenheim erstmals dabei" (in German). OneFootball. 2 February 2024.
- ^ "BVB bindet Eigengewächs Kjell Wätjen langfristig" (in German). Borussia Dortmund. 27 March 2024.
- ^ "Moukoko bags brace in 5-1 masterclass against Augsburg". Borussia Dortmund. 4 May 2024.
- ^ "Wück nominiert U-17-Kader für die Europameisterschaft" (in German). Kicker. 3 May 2023.
- ^ "Germany 3–0 Scotland". UEFA. 23 May 2023.
- ^ "Germany 0–0 France (5–4p)". UEFA. 2 June 2023.
- ^ Heßbrügge, 11FREUNDE, Rolf (8 May 2024). "(CLUB) Borussia Dortmund: Wie Kjell Wätjen zum Schweden wurde". www.11freunde.de (in German). Retrieved 17 December 2024.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)