“I know that’s not my level,” Moukoko told kicker last autumn, even as Danish tabloids had already labelled him a “flagrant mis-signing”. Exactly what his level is, however, remains an open question for the striker.
In his youth, Moukoko tore through BVB’s youth ranks, convincing the Black and Yellows they had a future star. The step to senior football proved problematic: the speed advantage he once enjoyed vanished, and his once-reliable finishing touch now produces far fewer goals than it did against age-group opponents. “My body wasn’t ready for the professional game yet,” Moukoko explained, acknowledging the injuries that kept disrupting his progress.
When fit, he was granted only brief cameos, and he could not displace established forwards such as Donyell Malen, Sébastien Haller, Karim Adeyemi, Niclas Füllkrug, Maximilian Beier or Serhou Guirassy. A loan move to Nice in 2024/25 was meant to provide more game time and rebuild his confidence, yet the experiment quickly faltered on the pitch.
From early February until the end of the campaign he was completely sidelined, having failed to make any meaningful impact. “I was poor; you have to say that,” he admitted. Surprisingly, though, Moukoko drew an extremely positive conclusion from his year on the Côte d’Azur: “Nice was the best thing that could have happened to me.” He added that the experience taught him patience and helped him judge his performances more realistically.