Paris Brunner: Borussia Dortmund’s prolific ‘problem child’ & Germany U17 hero who faces an uncertain future

Born near Dortmund to a Congolese mother and German father, Brunner has spent his entire career to date in the North Rhine-Westphalia region in the north-west of his home country. Having initially played for local clubs on the outskirts of Dortmund, he developed in the academies at Rot-Weiss Essen and subsequently Bochum in neighbouring cities, before joining BVB in 2020 aged 14.

He has remained there ever since, and although he is yet to make a senior breakthrough, he has been utterly prolific. Per Transfermarkt, Brunner has scored 55 goals in 81 appearances across the various youth teams – exploits that have earned him a place in Germany’s national team setup, a contract with Nike, and seen him earmarked as a potential future superstar.

It was his start to the 2022-23 campaign that truly caught the eye, though. Aged just 16, Brunner plundered 16 goals in his first five appearances in the U17 Bundesliga, including four hat-tricks in four games – netting every 28 minutes and surpassing lethal youth-level Dortmund goal-scorer Youssoufa Moukoko in the process statistically.

As if to rub salt in the wounds of his former club, his most impressive showing in that sensational run came against Bochum. Brunner scored every goal in a 5-0 victory; a devastating individual performance that caused plenty of people to sit up and take notice.

Predictably, that form earned him a swift promotion to the U19s in October 2022 and he has played at that level ever since, despite only turning 18 in February 2024.

“It worked straight away, I settled into the team straight away. I decided to wait for the next steps, accept everything that came to me and meet even more,” Brunner told Ruhr Nachrichten at the time.

On the face of it, things are going swimmingly for young Brunner. Although he is yet to make a first-team bow, he has found his feet in the U19s in 2023-24 and is back to scoring at an alarming rate. He has 20 goals in just 22 U19 Bundesliga appearances, as well as six assists.

However, it’s on the international stage that he has seized the spotlight in what was a stellar year for Germany’s U17s. Brunner starred last summer as his country triumphed at the European Championship, scoring four times en route to the final, where they downed France on penalties.

That would prove to just be the precursor to the crowning moment of his career to date; later in 2023 at the winter U17 World Cup in Indonesia, Brunner was named player of the tournament as his five strikes fired Germany to glory – once again at the expense of the French after spot-kicks. He came up clutch at the business end of the tournament, bagging in the quarter-final, semi-final and final.

Speaking to SPOX and GOAL last year, his national team manager Christian Wuck said: “Paris is a very reflective player. He knows where he wants to go and what he has to invest to get there. That characterises him and, in my opinion, is the main reason why he has developed so rapidly over the past year.”

A forward with the height and finishing ability of a No.9 and the pace and trickery of a winger, Brunner is capable of operating across the frontline to devastating effect – predominantly through the middle or from the left. His 6’1 frame has given him a physical edge throughout the age groups so far, and will stand him in good stead when he makes his inevitable first-team bow.

“Paris is very present and dangerous in front of goal,” Wuck said. “He develops an incredible power when playing with and against the ball. Thanks to this power, his physicality and athleticism paired with his technical skills, he is predestined to score quickly after winning the ball quickly. He also has good basic speed. All these different factors make him so dangerous.”

Wuck also points to a self-assuredness that should not be mistaken for arrogance: “The fact that he is very successful in all of his teams means that he currently has an extremely high level of self-confidence. That also helped him to take an incredible step forwards. He takes responsibility within the team, speaks his mind and can galvanise a team.”

“I don’t think he’s lacking the ultimate fire,” Wuck later said. “He was top scorer at the European Championships and was named best player at the European Championships and World Cup. He knows where he wants to go. For me, he’s a self-confident person player and not arrogant, because he still shows his performance in an outstanding way.”

Despite his ridiculous goal-scoring exploits and obvious potential, off-field misdemeanours are already threatening to derail what could be a glittering career.

Brunner’s chances of being called up for the U17 World Cup last year were actually in serious jeopardy after he was suspended indefinitely by Dortmund – an unprecedented measure for an academy player – having been present at a party where criminal damage was allegedly caused. A club statement at the time said: “Borussia Dortmund has suspended Paris Brunner for disciplinary reasons. The young player will not take part in BVB games until further notice.”

It was rumoured that his future at the club was being questioned behind closed doors, and first-team head coach Edin Terzic was even forced to respond to questions on the matter, saying: “Paris is an outstanding player who has trained with us. But there was an incident that forced us to take this action.” Fortunately for Brunner, the suspension was lifted just in time, and Wuck included him in his squad after he demonstrated his remorse. The forward would, of course, respond by shining in Indonesia.

“It was a very stressful time for him,” Wuck told GOAL. “He is aware that BVB’s suspension was completely justified and that he did not adhere to the applicable rules. If he had been suspended longer, he would not have gone to the World Cup.”

Brunner had been punished in the past for lateness, and a little over a month after his suspension he was in trouble again after breaking curfew on a warm-weather training camp with the Dortmund first team in Marbella. He was forced to sit out a friendly against Standard Liege as a result of that indiscipline, passing up a golden opportunity to impress Terzic. A headline from Bild at the time asked the question ‘How stupid can you be?!’, while he has been labelled a ‘problemkind’ (problem child) elsewhere.

With his low-slung shorts and baggy shirt, and the fact he is so versatile, you could draw a comparison between Brunner and a young Lukas Podolski – a World Cup winner with Germany at senior level. However, in modern terms he is arguably most similar to Liverpool’s Darwin Nunez, although perhaps a little more polished in his footwork and dribbling ability.

Amid his struggles at Liverpool it’s easy to forget Darwin has been a lethal striker in the past, and the Uruguayan is similarly capable of drifting wide to the left. Indeed, he scored two goals as a winger in one of his best displays of the season against Bournemouth.

Brunner shares the Uruguayan’s bustling ball-carrying ability, unpredictable edge, physicality and propensity to produce something special out of absolutely nothing.

Brunner’s future is far from certain, and he risks it being taken out of his own hands with his disciplinary issues testing Dortmund’s resolve to keep him, having originally planned to introduce him gradually to the first-team setup.

Die Schwarzgelben are struggling to agree a first professional contract with the forward, whose current academy deal expires in just over 12 months’ time. It has been reported that Dortmund’s offer is considered too low, while Brunner’s dad and agent, Norbert, is rumoured to have held talks with an unnamed Serie A club – something he denies.

His father told Sport1: “The story that I was recently in Italy to discuss a transfer is completely unfounded. There’s absolutely nothing to it. The talks with Dortmund are still going on, but nothing has been decided yet. The top priority for Paris at his age is clearly the sporting prospects and not the financial conditions.”

Everyone knows Dortmund’s reputation for developing young players, and the senior side’s remarkable run to the Champions League final might lead Brunner to dream of achieving similar feats in the famous black and yellow. There is no doubt he needs to work on his discipline, but if a compromise can’t be reached, Europe’s elite will still be queuing up to snap up a forward with elite potential.