The Doku Dance

The Doku Dance, A Biography on Jeremy Doku

By Noah Solovey

“I want to make defenders cry. I want to make sure they can’t sleep.” These words of Jeremy Doku are priceless. Instead of saying, “Win a Ballon d’Or” or “Score a million goals,” when his coach asks about his footballing dream, he wants to torment defenders. Ever since that quote, you knew this man would be a monster.

Doku’s Kickoff: From Playground to Pitch

Doku was born into an athletic family on May 27th, 2002.  In a small dangerous Belgian town, Jeremy would commonly play football on the streets near his house. Many pundits believe this is where his incredible flair comes from. His dad was an ex-athlete and he lived minutes away from the Antwerp Stadium; it seemed like a recipe for a footballing prodigy since the start. With both his parents having different nationalities, Belgian and Ghanaian, he could choose the international country he could eventually play for.

At five years old, the Academy of KVC Olympic Deurne acquired him, but the club went bankrupt and Doku moved to K. Tubantia Borgerhout V.K. Shortly after that move, Jeremy moved again to a more popular Belgian club, Beerschot (a club currently in first place in the Belgian 2nd Division). After a few years spent there, when he turned 10, the Anderlecht Academy took notice of the talented youngster and brought him into the club. His talent shined day by day and Doku was easily the best player in the academy. No one could outrun him and he could get past all defenders. Sound familiar?

His coaches at the time even said that they knew he would succeed in the big leagues. Interestingly, along with other European clubs, Liverpool was highly interested in him. They brought his family to England and gave them a tour of the Liverpool facilities. Doku spoke with Jurgen Klopp, Sadio Mane, and Steven Gerrard. You could tell he was highly thinking about this move. Liverpool FC also offered his family a home, car, and much more to make it easier to settle into the club. Everyone doubted the idea of him staying, but all it took was the legendary Anderlecht Academy graduate Romelu Lukaku to convince him to stay. Lukaku was one of Doku’s role models and if anybody was to convince Jeremy, it was him. 

Lukaku, a graduate of the Anderlecht Academy, would come often and visit his coaches and check in on the team. When he asked the coaches, “Who’s a player in the academy that’s a star and is close to leaving?” The coaches said, “Jeremy Doku” in a heartbeat. Lukaku asked for his number and was soon enough speaking to Jeremy on the phone. Lukaku told him to stay at Anderlecht’s academy and wait it out a few years. That turned out to be a great decision.

On The Wing: Nobody Quite Like Him

After multiple scouts noticed the boy's talent, many European clubs were interested in him. One of those clubs is Stade Rennes, a French Ligue 1 club looking for a creative, speedy winger with flair that can help them bag some goals. When they ended up buying him, his transfer fee broke the club’s all-time transfer record of Lucas Severino, a Brazilian center forward who was bought for 21.3 million euros when Doku was bought for 26 million. 

During Jeremy’s first season, he shined for his dribbling ability and lightning speed. He even earned the name, “The Belgian Flash!” One of the main topics that made Doku a popular figure in football was when he broke Neymar’s dribble record for most dribbles completed in a Ligue 1 match with 12. In this first season, he made 36 appearances, scored 2 goals, and accomplished 3 assists, and was a huge factor in the excellence of the team that season. Every defender hated him, as he would dribble past a defender, wait for him to recover, and then dribble past him again. When you watch Jeremy’s highlights you can see how much skills and flair this man has.

His exceptional season earned him a call-up to the Euros that year, and boy was Jeremy excited to compete. For Belgium, he made his debut at 18! Though Belgium didn’t do so well in the Euros tournament, Jeremy Doku performed incredibly well against future winners Italy in the quarter-finals even earning Belgium a penalty that Lukaku would go on to score. Remember him? Romelu Lukaku? Yep, you got it right. Now Jeremy Doku was playing on the same team as Lukaku, the man who made him stay at Anderlecht.

Offsides: A Bumpy Second Season

Every football fan couldn’t wait to see what Jeremy would go on to do in his second Rennes season, but he didn’t live up to expectations. He suffered from multiple lengthy injuries causing him to only play 15 matches, score 1 goal, and complete 2 assists. He said in multiple interviews that it was a hard sport mentally and he didn’t have the mindset for training. Was it possible to rebuild the iconic, skillful Jeremy Doku we all once knew?

Counter Attack: Doku’s Return

He played 36 matches again this season and made a name for himself.  Scoring 7 goals and getting 4 assists was amazing for young Jeremy, and now big English, Spanish, and German clubs admired his unique talent. One of those clubs was Manchester City. Manchester City (Man City for short) came off of a treble-winning season and needed a replacement for Riyad Mahrez, a creative and fast winger who left for Saudi Arabia. Doku was the perfect, if not better, replacement. Doku’s best teammate, Kevin De Bruyne played for Man City too, it was a perfect, high-level club for Jeremy. Stade Rennes ended up playing a few games with Doku before he moved, and Doku ended up scoring his final goal for them in a 5-1 victory over Rennes, and then the young lad said goodbye.

He was sold to city for a record transfer fee of Rennes for 65$ million, and he was worth the money. All the fans loved him the second he stepped foot in Manchester, and one day VS West Ham he would go on to score his first goal. It was an excellent finish, where of course he dribbled through defenders and slotted the ball in the net, and he already had a reputation for being a threat to defenders that same season. When the ball went in, the commentators yelled, “Jeremy Dokuuuuu! Welcome to Manchester! We know you’ll do great things here!” Then, Jeremy Doku hit his trademark celebration, the griddy.

Man of The Match: One to Watch Out for in the Coming Years

Many defenders cry after playing Doku. He is too good! In the game VS Brighton Hove Albion, he earned Man of The Match completing an assist and winning battles versus the iconic James Milner. Then Bournemouth came, and he was the center of the show in that 6-1 win. You might see where this is going. In the first half, he completed one goal and two assists, and 2 more assists in the second. Breaking the for youngest premier league player providing the most assists in a single match. Wow. He crushed defenders' souls that game.

Now, he is a popular starter for Man City and as of right now in all competitions, he has 3 goals and 10 assists. I’m sure his idols Ronaldinho, Eden Hazard, and Messi would be proud of his skills and accomplishments. Especially Ronaldinho.

Icon Card: A Whole Career Ahead of Him

Now, Doku is being called up for big international tournaments, and shining in the Etihad Stadium every fixture. If you have the chance, go see Jeremy in real life, you’ll see his skill shine through the depths of the starting XI. If I could only say The Belgian Flash is perfect, but I can’t. The only thing he doesn’t have is finishing, and in his career ahead of him, if he could master that he’ll be the next Messi. Or Hazard. Or Ronaldinho.

You might hear a commentator once say, “Oh! He’s dancing past the defenders!” But no winger dances like Jeremy. No winger does the Doku Dance.