The SGE equips Collins with a five-year contract, but initially wants to loan him out for at least one or two seasons in order to optimally develop him in the professional field. Several clubs from neighboring countries are possible.
SPORT1 learned: The unity around sports director Markus Krösche and the new sports director Timmo Hardung even outperformed AS Roma with star trainer José Mourinho in the campaign for Collins.
Mourinho wanted the BVB talent as a perspective player for his central defense. The plan was to introduce him to the pros via the Romans’ Primavera team. In the end, however, Collins decided to go with Eintracht, which also sees him in their licensed team in the long term and would now rather lend him to the professional sector than build them up in their second team.
In the German U19 national player, BVB not only loses one of the best central defenders born in 2004, but also a real homegrown player with the potential to become a leader and a role model.
Collins learned to play football at VfL Benrath and came to BVB’s U13 team at the age of 12 via Fortuna Düsseldorf. He moved to a host family in Dortmund and went through all youth teams up to the U21 level at BVB, mostly as captain.
He became German U19 champion with BVB and celebrated promotion to the 3rd division with the U21s, where he immediately established himself as a regular player in the 3rd division in the second half of the 2022/23 season at the age of 19.
As captain, Collins led BVB twice to the final of the German U19 championship and to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Youth League. The quick and strong defender (1.90 meters) is considered one of the most exciting central defender talents of his year. It is not without reason that Chelsea FC wanted to bring the then 16-year-old to London in 2020 by any means necessary.
Collins, however, was convinced by the former BVB sports director Michael Zorc and head coach Lucien Favre with a professional contract. BVB presented him with a career plan, which initially worked.
At the age of 16 he was already training with the professionals and impressed Favre, who thought highly of him. The corona pandemic then destroyed the BVB plan and no longer allowed regular professional training because Collins was still a student at the time.
An injury in the 2021/22 pre-season under Marco Rose put Collins in the background with the BVB professionals, but he fought his way back into focus as U19 captain and through strong performances in the UEFA Youth League and in the 3rd division the first team, where he still participated in parts of the pre-season until the very end.
Now, however, he is moving to Frankfurt, where he believes he will have better prospects for development.
2023-08-03 12:49:35
#Eintracht #Mourinho #Frankfurt #grabs #BVB #talent
