Karim Adeyemi is the next footballing sensation coming out of the German talent pool.
He had a breakthrough season in 2021-2022 with RB Salzburg which prompted Borussia Dortmund to sign him for a deal worth reportedly around €38 million during the summer transfer window.
Adeyemi scored 19 goals and provided 5 assists in 29 Bundesliga appearances last term. In Europe, he netted a further 3 with 2 assists as Salzburg reached the round of 16 in the competition.
Naturally, big names came calling but he opted to stay in Germany at the Signal Iduna Park stadium.
This season, Adeyemi has started slowly owing to a couple of injuries that restricted his minutes on the pitch.
A solitary strike against Sevilla in the Champions League and a goal in the DFB Pokal are all he has managed so far.
An undoubtedly gifted player, a good dribbler of the ball combined with an electric pace and now playing with the big boys of Dortmund, he is sure to grab the world’s attention very soon.
Growing up in the modern era of football, young budding professionals like Adeyemi are lucky to have multiple legendary names to follow in their footsteps.
One prominent superstar though is definitely not on his list of role models – Cristiano Ronaldo.
Karim Adeyemi recently featured in a live stream with an e-sports player called Erne Embeli. The latter is a content creator for Dortmund and was seen building a FIFA Ultimate Team with the 20-year-old attacker.
Snippets from the video show Erne asking to put the GOAT on the team to which Adeyemi replied, “Yes, put Messi there.”
Erne then questioned him, naming Ronaldo as an alternative. Adeyemi agreed but wanted him on the bench.
During the final evaluation of the team, he was asked about his satisfaction with the selected players. Nonchalantly, he says he is happy with all except “that one Portuguese guy down there.”
These conversations clearly show which way he is leaning in the age-old debate.
To further strengthen his stance, Adeyemi was once asked “Who do you prefer Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo?” He said “I think definitely Messi is better. Because Messi is the best player in the world.”
As far as inspirations go, the young gun can be said to have made a smart choice. In reality, he actually couldn’t have made a wrong one given the inhumane numbers, trophies, awards & quality shared between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Karim Adeyemi is a versatile footballer, comfortable playing anywhere at the top end of the field. The fact is, if he can even achieve half the success his idol or Ronaldo has had over the years, he can consider his career to be extremely fortunate.
He is young and has the hunger and quality for everyone to see. Now, he just needs to put his head down and do what he does best.
