Two years after the transfer, the barren spell is over! Paris Brunner becomes the "man of the hour" at AS Monaco

Former BVB wonderkid Paris Brunner scored his first competitive goal for AS Monaco – and an extremely important one at that.

Monaco are up against Polish club Gornik Zabrze in the play-offs for a place in the Conference League league phase. The Monegasques won the first leg in Poland 3-2 on Thursday.

Brunner played the full 90 minutes and headed in to make it 3-1. The goal underlined his recent upturn in form and was his first in a competitive match for Monaco, two years after his transfer.

Brunner caused a stir in Borussia Dortmund's youth ranks before moving to the principality in 2024 for four million euros. Monaco then sent him straight out on loan to partner club Cercle Brugge in Belgium, but it did not go to plan. He managed only 1,083 competitive minutes, though he still scored six goals.

Last season in Monaco was even more disappointing. Brunner played only 127 minutes in Ligue 1. However, the now 20-year-old striker has made an excellent impression in pre-season this summer. Seven friendlies, six goals, that is the impressive return. He scored against Liverpool and Getafe, among others.

Monaco begin their Ligue 1 season on Sunday

In the first competitive match of the season, Brunner picked up right where he left off. French newspaper L'Equipe hailed him as the "man of the moment" after his goal against Gornik. Monaco begin the new Ligue 1 season away at AC Le Havre on Sunday, before the second leg against Gornik takes place on Thursday.

Gornik, incidentally, are Lukas Podolski's club. Since 2025, the now 41-year-old former Germany international has been the owner of the traditional club. He also kept playing until the end of last season and signed off by winning the Polish Cup.