If rumours in the international press are to be believed Westfalenstadion may be set for a further English talent: Jamie Bynoe-Gittens. Hailing from the Manchester City Academy, the MCFC Elite Development Squad, which relies on almost unlimited financial resources from the club’s owners, leading member of the Abu Dhabi royal family Sheikh Mansour Al Nahyan. It has a reputation for being one of the best in Europe and has produced talents like Shaun Wright-Phillips, Ryan Giggs, Phil Foden, and, crucially, Jadon Sancho.
Born in London in 2004, Bynoe-Gittens, whose family has roots in the Caribbean in Barbados, learnt his football at Championship club Reading FC’s Hogwood Park academy where he started playing as an 8-year-old. Called up to the England Under 16 national team he had his debut in August in a 1-1 draw against the Republic of Ireland and is regarded as one of the ‘best future prospects in the English game’ by national team coach, former Queens Park Rangers Centre-back Justin Cochran.
During the past 19-20 season, Bynoe-Gittens has split his playing time between City’s Under 16 and Under 18 teams, accumulating an impressive 12 goals and 8 assists. Gittens made an immediate impression scoring in his debut match for the U16’s in his debut, a 5-2 win over Liverpool.
Bynoe-Gittens is fast and has great ball control. The fact of being ambidextrous makes him even more unpredictable for his opponent, as he excels in one on ones.
Analysis of match footage shows a player who is strong in tight spaces, where he has gained a reputation for his creativity on the ball. The physically strong, 1.75m tall youth player likes to play on the wide left, converging into the centre is an effective finisher with good crossing ability especially from the left side of the field.
According to German tabloid Bild, Bynoe-Gittens is represented by the same agent as Sancho and could join the Black and Yellows from Manchester City for a fee in the region of €250,000 — which should be seen as reimbursement for Man City’s training the player rather than an actual transfer fee, as the 16-year-old is yet to sign a professional contract.
The reason why another English top talent may find its way to the Westfalenstadion is that, at least according to Bild, Dortmund have pitched a clear path for the talent. Similar to talents like Giovanni Reyna, Bynoe-Gittens is supposed to acclimatise at Dortmund’s Under 19 before joining the seniors in 2021, where he would compete with the likes of Thorgan Hazard for playing time.
