One for the future

The name Jamie Bynoe-Gittens is starting to buzz around Europe, particularly in Germany, where the teenager plays for Borussia Dortmund Football Club as a striker and continues to make his presence felt in top-flight football.

With Barbadian roots through his father Michael “Mike” Bynoe-Gittens, the 17-year-old English-born talent scored his first professional as well as the opening goal for Dortmund FC two nights ago. That goal was registered in the fourth minute against Dynamo Kyiv in a Charity Match.

During an interview with Barbados TODAY, Michael Bynoe- Gittens spoke on his son’s behalf and said through consistent efforts Jamie has shown he belongs at this level.

“He is an attacking left-winger, right-winger, he has two good feet and scores goals with either. He is a very quick player, good acceleration but very speedy and athletic,” Bynoe- Gittens said.

Like any proud parent, Bynoe- Gittens would like to see his son play at the highest level of football and that would be the Premier League.

That reality is not far-fetched either given the young man has laid his foundation by representing England Under-16, 17 and 18 national teams, he was part of the Manchester City setup at age 14 before joining Dortmund at 16-years-old where he is now on a five-year contract.

Rewind the years, however, Bynoe- Gittens’ first love affair with football began at age five when he played for a team in Reading which is a town on the outskirts of London where the family resides. According to Bynoe- Gittens, this type of success is what he has always envisioned for his son.

“We only came to Germany because there was an opportunity and because of his ability level there was an opportunity for him to play first-team football with a top European league at a young age. Manchester City was very reluctant to let him go and they fought hard to keep him because they saw him being part of their setup eventually for the Premier League team,” Bynoe- Gittens explained. 

He added: “However, we thought that might take a bit too long, so we just sought a quicker way of him getting exposure in a top league and that would be to go to Dortmund, play first-team football at a young age which he has achieved now because he is not 18 yet.”

While Bynoe- Gittens did not want to share too much about the plans for his son in the sport going forward, he expressed confidence that big things are in store. The teenager is part of the Elite Project Management Agency that also manages football stars Jadon Sancho of Manchester City and Bukayo Saka of Arsenal, just to name a few.

A definite starter for the Dortmund FC Under-19 team, Bynoe-Gittens has shown amazing form in the youth league where he has so far accounted for six goals in four games. That performance is excellent given that he sustained a serious injury that kept him out of the sport for six years and he only returned to the playing field late last year.

Bynoe-Gittens perhaps inherited his skills and ability from his father who also played football in his younger days at school when he moved to England.

The Charity encounter in which Bynoe-Gittens scored his first professional goal was part of Dynamo’s Match for Peace tour in Europe which raises money for humanitarian efforts through football given the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia.

On Wednesday, April 27, Bynoe- Gittens featured in the charity match alongside world-class forward and Norwegian Under-21 soccer player, Erling Haaland who also plays for Dortmund FC. Despite Dortmund losing the match 3-2 to Dynamo in a thriller, the senior Bynoe-Gittens shared that the German-based club has a good reputation for identifying young talent.

“That is Dortmund’s forte to get younger players and develop them and get value from them at an early age. So, they have a training regime in place to develop the talent exceptionally well and quickly. That is one of their focuses as a club which is why we chose to go there,” Bynoe- Gittens said.

morissalindsay@barbadostoday.bb