Jamie Gittens is establishing himself on the grandest stage of club football years after his academy past with Chelsea and Manchester City.
The English winger came off the bench to bag a late brace for Borussia Dortmund in their 3-0 win over Club Brugge in the Champions League on Wednesday (September 18). And his outstanding cameo earned him the man of the match award.
The 20-year-old, born in 2004, joined the German giants four years ago after spending two years in Man City's academy. He made his first-team debut at the age of 18 back in 2022 and has begun truly catching the eye of football fans across Europe.
Gittens had quite the lengthy academy career that saw him begin with his local side Caversham Trents before joining Reading. The London-born starlet – whose full name is Jamie Jermaine Bynoe-Gittens – spent some time with Chelsea but decided to reject the Premier League club's invitation to progress with them and left, choosing to instead remain at Under-9s level with Reading, who he spent the next five years of his footballing development with.
Staying there until Under-14s level, Gittens then decided to sign with City and spent two years in Manchester before making the bold move to Dortmund, initially signing with their youth team.
Following in the footsteps of Jadon Sancho, who made the identical switch from Manchester to Germany three years prior to Gittens, the winger hasn't looked back, with his decision to look for a first-team pathway elsewhere vindicated. He's already racked up 63 appearances for Dortmund, bagging nine goals and contributing eight assists.
His brace against Club Brugge wasn't his first big moment in the Champions League, however, as his first goal in the competition came last November in a 3–1 away win over AC Milan which secured qualification to the knockout phase for the Bundesliga outfit.
He also had his first taste of a Champions League final last season, earning three minutes of action in Dortmund's 2-0 defeat to Real Madrid.
His success at club level has seen him speed through the ranks of England's youth teams, now solidifying his place in England's U21 squad. He's made seven appearances and scored one goal for the side since his debut last year under now-interim England boss Lee Carsley, so it might not be too long before he earns a senior call-up.
After his Champions League brace, he received glowing praise from ex-Liverpool defender Stephen Warnock, who told BBC Champions League Match of the Day: "Electric, the speed he has, the movement of the hips, as a defender it is your worst nightmare. You can't get anywhere near him, such is the speed of feet."