The TRUTH behind Arsenal target Bynoe-Gittens' Bellingham comparison

Updated: 19 Sept 2023 11:40 BST
4 min read

Jamie-Bynoe-Gittens, Jude Bellingham, Borussia Dortmund — © ProShots

Arsenal are reportedly keen on signing Jamie Bynoe-Gittens from Borussia Dortmund, a player compared to Jude Bellingham - but do those comparisons make sense?

Short answer: no. Long answer: they are wide off the mark. The only similarity between Bynoe-Gittens and his former Dortmund teammate is that both are young English players, but the similarities stop there.

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If you desperately wanted to make a tortured comparison to an ex-BVB player, then Jadon Sancho would make a bit more sense given that he is at least similar to him in terms of his position, but even this would ultimately be spurious because, in truth, Bynoe-Gittens has not managed to come to close to reaching the heights of his predecessors.

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At his age, both Bellingham and Sancho were already established and celebrated players in Dortmund's first-team squad, something that Bynoe-Gittens has not managed to achieve yet. In fact, since following in Sancho's footsteps and making the switch from Manchester City's academy in 2020, the 19-year-old has only made 25 senior appearances.

Talented but raw

All of the above is not to say that Bynoe-Gittens isn't a gifted player. On the contrary, he is an immense talent with bags of potential, but he is still very raw and inconsistent, though the latter may be because he rarely gets to show off his talents.

The young English winger showed signs of being on the verge of winning himself a regular place in Dortmund's side around this time last year, but a shoulder injury put a quick stop to his early-season promise. His shoulder would continue to plague him over the course of the entire campaign, and the youngster ultimately missed 15 Bundesliga fixtures because of fitness issues.

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Thus far this season, the skilful wide player has only featured in nine minutes for Edin Terzic's inconsistent side, being an unused substitute in three matches. A move away would, therefore, make sense, but not because Dortmund is necessarily a bad environment for him. He just needs game time, which means that signing for Arsenal wouldn't be smart unless they offer to immediately loan him to a Championship club.

In order to be able to fulfil his potential, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens actually needs to play. Sitting on the bench - regardless of whether it is at Dortmund or Arsenal - will see his immense talent simply go to waste.