Karim Adeyemi: Germany’s Fastest Prodigy
By: Anthony Tazbaz
Image Credit: Jannik Skorna
Player Name: Karim Adeyemi
Age: 22
Height: 1.88m (6 ft, 2 in)
Nationality: Germany 🇩🇪
Position: Left Winger
Club: Borussia Dortmund 🇩🇪
Market Value: €28m
The 2023-24 season has been a disappointment domestically for Borussia Dortmund — an inconsistent league campaign and a premature exit in the DfB Pokal round of 16 at the hands of VfB Stuttgart (2-0).
However, in the UEFA Champions League (UCL) group stage, Dortmund scraped to first place; Group F — also known as the “group of death” — consisted of Dortmund, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), AC Milan and Newcastle United.
Then, in the round of 16, the Black and Yellow defeated 2023-24 Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven 3-1 on aggregate (1-1 at PSV, 2-0 win at home), which was followed by a thrilling 5-4 aggregate victory (2-1 loss away, 4-2 win at home) in the quarterfinals against a disappointing Atlético Madrid squad. As of writing, Dortmund lead 1-0 on aggregate against French champions PSG in a Group F rematch, which also constitutes Dortmund’s first semifinal appearance since their journey to the UCL final in 2013.
Despite the inconsistency, however, Dortmund and their fans can find silver linings in their youth talent, which remains a pillar to the club’s short, medium and (financially) long-term success. This pool of young talent — which stretches beyond four-year “veteran” and 19-year-old Youssoufa Moukoko — is highlighted by one of the club’s integral pieces: Karim Adeyemi.
Although Karim Adeyemi’s breakout season occurred last year, his experience this season is undoubtedly enabling him to elevate his overall performance and maturity to the next level.
Youth Ranks
Born in January 2002 to a Nigerian father and a Romanian mother, Adeyemi’s first notable stint in his youth career took place as a 10year-old at the Bayern Munich academy from 2010 to 2012.
However, he left and joined the academy at SpVgg Unterhaching due to a contract dispute between Adeyemi’s party and Bayern. Adeyemi spent six years at the club’s academy — from 2012 to 2018 — which included a scoring tally of 15 goals in as many U17-Bundesliga South/Southwest division matches in 2017-18. This impressive performance put clubs on notice and, in summer 2018, Adeyemi signed a three-year contract with Austrian heavyweights Red Bull Salzburg.
Going Pro (Transfer value: €1.5 million)
In 2018-19, Adeyemi spent his rookie season on loan at 2. Liga — Austrian second division — club FC Liefering and produced six goals and four assists in 20 league matches.* In his sophomore season, Adeyemi spent the first half of the season on loan again at FC Liefering, for which he scored nine goals and accumulated eight assists in only 14 matches.
In January, Adeyemi returned to Salzburg and featured in 10 league matches, scoring one goal and assisting three of his teammates’ goals. He would earn his first league title that season, which was Salzburg’s 14th overall and ninth consecutive league title.
However, by remaining eligible to play for Salzburg’s youth team, Adeyemi stood out during the Salzburg U19 team’s outstanding U19 UEFA Youth League campaign, producing three goals and seven assists across nine matches. That year, Salzburg U19 excelled to the semifinals before suffering elimination by Real Madrid Juvenil A, which defeated SL Benfica’s U19 team in the final by a 3-2 score.
Breaking Out (Transfer value: €7.5 million)
In his first full season at Salzburg — 2020-21 — Adeyemi featured in 29 league matches, scoring seven goals and providing nine assists. In that season Salzburg won their 15th and tenth consecutive league title. He also featured in four OFB-Cup (Austrian cup) matches, providing one goal and two assists during Salzburg’s run to their eighth overall and third consecutive cup title.
Moreover, Adeyemi continued to gain experience beyond domestic competitions, appearing in two UEFA Europa League (UEL) matches and three UCL matches. In December 2020, Adeyemi scored his first career UCL goal against Lokomotiv Moscow, which ended in a 3-1 Salzburg win.
In the following season, Adeyemi took new strides and produced 19 goals along with five assists, a new personal scoring record. He also provided two assists in five OFB Cup matches. Salzburg ultimately won the domestic double — league title and cup — for a fourth consecutive season.
At the continental stage, he scored one goal in the UCL qualifiers and then raked in an additional three goals and two assists throughout all of Salzburg’s eight UCL matches, which culminated into a rare round of 16 appearance before losing 8-2 on aggregate against Bayern Munich.
During that season, Adeyemi earned his first four appearances for the German senior national team. On September 5 2021, Adeyemi scored in his international debut, notching Germany’s sixth goal in a 6-0 victory against Armenia during the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
New Heights at Dortmund (Transfer value: €35 million)
In summer 2022, Adeyemi completed a transfer worth €30 million to Bundesliga heavyweights Borussia Dortmund. In his first season — 2022-23 — he appeared in 32 matches across all competitions. In league play, he featured in 24 matches (1,397 minutes), scoring six goals and providing as many assists, while also accumulating nine yellow cards.
In the DfB Pokal, Adeyemi featured in two matches (94 minutes), mustering one goal and picking up his first of two career red cards to date. In UCL, he scored two goals across six matches (379 minutes).
That season — under current Dortmund manager Edin Terzić — Dortmund finished as runners-up in heartbreaking fashion, were eliminated in the DfB Pokal quarterfinals and sustained elimination in the UCL round of 16 against Chelsea FC (2-1 on aggregate) after finishing second in the group stage.
In addition, Adeyemi was also called up by then-manager Hansi Flick to represent Germany during the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. However, he did not appear in any of Germany’s three group stage matches.
On February 4 2023, Adeyemi became the fastest player in Bundesliga history, clocking in at 36.65 km/h (22.77 mph) against SC Freiburg, a match that resulted in a 5-1 Dortmund win.
As of writing, this season — 2023-24 — Adeyemi produced three goals and one assist across 20 matches (848 minutes) in league play. Although he only featured in one DfB Pokal match (90 minutes), Adeyemi found confidence and produced stellar performances in UCL action, netting two goals and giving one assist in 10 matches (581 minutes).
More importantly, Adeyemi improved his discipline, mustering only four yellow cards and one additional second yellow card — resulting in his second red card to date — across all competitions (31 matches, 1519 minutes).
Dortmund are coming off a 5-1 victory against FC Augsburg, which guarantees a top-six finish and keeps their hopes alive to finish among the top five in the Bundesliga table. In their quest for silverware, Dortmund will seek to hold onto their 1-0 lead during the second leg match of the UCL semifinals against PSG. In addition to the second leg match, Adeyemi will aim to increase his overall scoring tally during Dortmund’s two remaining league matches and, possibly, during a first career UCL final appearance at Wembley Stadium.
Transfer Value Summary
Source: Transfermakt
Since Adeyemi began his pro career in July 2018 with a €1.5 million transfer value, his value increased steadily and reached €10 million three years later following his breakout 2020-21 season at Salzburg.
During the 2021-22 season, Adeyemi’s value skyrocketed, which reached €20 million as a 19-year-old by September 6 and increased to €35 million by December 16.
While his value remained at €35 million during his €30-million transfer to Dortmund, Adeyemi — aged 21 — saw his value later increase to €40 million by end of June 2023.
However, as of December 14 2023, a slight decline in production led to Adeyemi’s value decreasing to €28 million.
Upside Potential
Despite Adeyemi’s relative decline in production and transfer value this season, Adeyemi is still only 22 years old and nevertheless boasts outstanding potential to lead Dortmund back to glory.
It goes without saying that his speed gives him tremendous upside over the vast majority of his competitors, which constitutes an ideal trait in today’s football. He also boasts incredible dribbling skills and, coupled with his pace, is one of the fastest ball controllers and dribblers in the world.
Furthermore, former German national team coach Flick emphasized Adeyemi’s confidence and composure during attacking plays as redeeming qualities that can prove useful to his development into a potential world class player, stating:
“Karim has shown he can be ice-cold in front of goal and that he plays with lots of self-confidence. He's still got lots of work to do, but he does his thing very well.”
It remains a matter of time as to whether Adeyemi can evolve into a leading figure within a club contending for domestic and European glory, as well as for a resurgent German national team.
* Denotes competitive matches only, excluding preseason and other friendlies.
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