Telalovic fulfils his childhood dream

U23s hitman Semir Telalovic made his Bundesliga debut in yesterday’s 1-0 defeat to Augsburg. The 23-year-old is now setting his sights on getting more minutes in Germany’s top flight.

Although Gladbach fell to a 1-0 defeat at the hands of FC Augsburg on Wednesday evening, Semir Telalovic will always have fond memories of matchday 17 of the 2022/23 Bundesliga season. The 23-year-old came on in the 87th minute for Manu Koné for his debut in Germany’s top flight. “It was a dream come true for me. Just spending the whole day with the team stirred up real emotions. It was absolutely indescribable when I came onto the field,” reflected the 23-year-old.

His assignment in the final stages of the game was clear: He somehow needed to help Borussia find the equaliser. “I tried to focus and make the best of it. We were behind in the game and we tried everything to make it 1-1. Unfortunately it didn’t quite work out,” explained Telalovic, who has been training regularly with the first team since the start of the winter break.

Playing in the sixth tier just a year and a half ago

Just 18 months ago, Telalovic was still playing for SSV Ehingen-Süd in the Verbandsliga- the sixth tier of German football. He then made the move to FV Illertissen in the Regionalliga Bayern and he caught the attention of the Foals with his impressive 14 goals in 23 games. He came to Gladbach in January 2022 and he netted six times in 18 appearances for the U23s in the second half of last season. He has built on his good form in the Regionalliga West this term and has scored ten goals and picked up six assists in 20 matches so far.

“I knew that if I did a good job for the U23s then I might get the chance to show what I can do in the first team. But I didn’t expect to make my professional debut after such a short period of time,” said Telalovic. After getting his first taste of Bundesliga action, the striker is hoping for more game time at the top level: “After that feeling yesterday, of course you continue to dream and I would love to build on it. In order to do so, I will have to keep pushing myself and keep working hard. If I do that then I’m sure I’ll get more opportunities,” explained the striker.