Borussia Dortmund fan's view on Crawley Town's new signing Denzeil Boadu

Crawley Town signed former Borussia Dortmund, Tottenham, Arsenal and Man City forward Denzeil Boadu this week.
Denzeil Boadu, in action for Manchester City, holds off Ainsley Maitland-Niles during the Premier League 2 against Arsenal and Manchester City. (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)Denzeil Boadu, in action for Manchester City, holds off Ainsley Maitland-Niles during the Premier League 2 against Arsenal and Manchester City. (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
Denzeil Boadu, in action for Manchester City, holds off Ainsley Maitland-Niles during the Premier League 2 against Arsenal and Manchester City. (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)

The player has incredible pedigree and Gabriele Cioffi said: "I think Denzeil is going to be a very good fit for this club and the way I want us to move forward with a young, hungry squad. He is fit and has worked hard this summer and I am sure our fans will enjoy watching him play."

Here Ben McFadyean from Borussia Dortmund Fan Club London (Facebook) gives his view of Boadu's career at the German giants, his ability and how he thinks the forward will settle in at Crawley Town.

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Denzeil joined in August 2017, days before Jadon Sancho from Man City was the first English player in 108 years at Borussia. Scots Murdo MacLeod, Scott Booth and Paul Lambert played for Borussia in the 80s and 90s.

Denzeil trained with the BvB first team alongside Sancho in 2017/18 under current PSG coach Thomas Tuchel. Denzeil was part of the squad that won the DFB Pokal in 2017, although he never played for the Bundesliga side.

In 2018/19 under new coach Peter Bosz, who joined from Ajax, Denzeil, unlike Jadon Sancho, was really up against it. He was competing with superstars like club captain Marco Reus and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who scored 100 goals at Borussia before leaving for Arsenal in a £65million deal in 18/19.

Denzeil joined 'Die Amas', as the BvB II academy team are known, who play in the fourth tier Regionaliga-West.

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Denzeil didn’t benefit from playing under three coaches in as many seasons including current Norwich City coach Daniel Farke and former Huddersfield Town boss Jan Siewert.

I watched Denzeil play for the BvB II v Borussia Mönchengladbach II last season. He has a strong passing ability, a good work rate and at 1.81m he is a physical presence on the box.

I think Boadu will take well to Crawley Town, as he has a lot of friends and family in London where he was raised.

League Two is a similar standard, but in my view it is tougher than the German fourth tier, with teams like Plymouth Argyle and Swindon Town. I think Denzeil, having played for Arsenal at youth level and Man City U23, proves he undoubtedly has strong potential.

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Denzeil, like Reece Oxford who played a season at Borussia Mönchengladbach and is now doing well at West Ham, failed to settle in in Germany may find a move back to the English game a step in the right direction after a challenge at Dortmund.

Denzeil made 14 appearances scoring four goals for BvB II. Bundesliga title contenders Borussia Dortmund were not the right move at this time in my view.

Boadu was the first English player to sign for Borussia Dortmund and is a Londoner. A lot of us at the Borussia Dortmund Official Fan Club in London are already planning a trip to come and watch Boadu at Crawley v Plymouth in the EFL Trophy on September 17.