GOAL reported that Borussia Dortmund teenagers Justin Lerma and Kaua Prates have had their starts at the club disrupted mainly by injuries. Both were signed before this summer, but neither has been seen much since joining.
Lerma's delayed progress
Dortmund agreed Lerma's move from Independiente del Valle in 2024, but the transfer did not go through until this summer, when he turned 18. He scored in a 3-1 friendly win against Rot-Weiss Oberhausen during summer preparations, then scored for Dortmund's under-19s against Fulham in the Premier League International Cup at the end of August before coming off with a muscle injury after grabbing his right thigh.
Dortmund never announced a precise diagnosis for Lerma's injury. Two months after that setback, he was still sidelined, had yet to make a senior appearance and it remained unclear when he would return. Lars Ricken said: "He has a muscle injury and will be unavailable until further notice."
Kovac on Lerma's recovery
Niko Kovac said: "We can't play everyone. He still needs time, and that's completely normal. There are language difficulties. If you look at him, he's still a little slight, so we need to put a bit of weight on him or work on his fitness. The lad is part of the team, just like everyone else."
Kovac also said: "With Justin, it was a muscle injury. You have to be careful not to bring him back too early, so that the muscle doesn't tear again in the same place. We're building him up carefully and won't make any hasty predictions."
GOAL reported that reports from Ruhr Nachrichten and WAZ suggested as early as September that Dortmund's decision-makers were considering a winter loan for Lerma. Lerma cannot play for Dortmund's under-23s, and GOAL reported that, for now, a return to the under-19s is his only route to additional minutes.
Prates' first appearances
Dortmund agreed a €7 million fee for Prates, with a further €5 million potentially payable in bonuses, and signed him from Cruzeiro Belo Horizonte on a contract until 2031. He arrived in Dortmund this summer at the age of 18, but came with a thigh injury and missed the start of training and the trip to Asia.
Prates made his first appearances for Dortmund in the friendlies against Arsenal and Roma. He then made his senior debut in the 2-0 Bundesliga win over Hamburger SV at the end of August, playing six minutes at left-back. After that, he played 32 minutes in the 5-0 first-round DFB Cup win over HEBC Hamburg and eight minutes in the 3-2 Champions League victory against Villarreal.
Prates' current status
Since then, Prates has made the matchday squad for almost every Bundesliga game, but has not played any more league minutes since facing Hamburger SV. Dortmund left him out of the squad against VfB Stuttgart and Eintracht Frankfurt. GOAL reported that Prates missed the Stuttgart game for other reasons, while a muscle injury kept him out against Frankfurt.
Prates is back in individual training. Brazilian sports journalist Joaquim Viana described him to SPOX as a "defensive beast".
