Regular in Championship
In October 2020, Reda Khadra moved from Borussia Dortmund’s U19 to Brighton & Hove Albion in order to make the step to professional football in England. Just 18 months later he finally reached his goal at Blackburn Rovers. The 20-year-old striker is playing on loan at the three-time English champions this season and has shown some impressive performances in recent weeks—performances that could be rewarded with promotion play-offs at the end of the season. “I’ve made a big step in my development and I think that has been evident from what I have shown here at Blackburn,” Khadra said to Transfermarkt in an exclusive interview ahead of the home game against Bristol City (Saturday, 3 p.m. BST).
Mainly due to injuries, the Berlin-born player with Lebanese roots only made seven competitive appearances last season: six in the Premier League 2 (three goals/two assists) for the U23 and one in the Premier League over four minutes in the 0:1 defeat against Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City. After a good pre-season with the first team of the Seagulls, Khadra facilitated a loan to Blackburn—the Rovers wanted to sign him after he impressed in a friendly against them. Under Tony Mowbray, the three-time German U18 international has established himself almost straight away, first as an option from the bench and from November as a regular in the attack.
“I think it shows how quickly it can go in football, both up and down,” Khadra said, who despite his good performances in what he calls the best and toughest 2nd division in the world is not at the level he expects of himself. “This is my first proper year in professional football,” Khadra said. “I trained a lot with the first team at Brighton but didn’t play any competitive games apart from my debut against Man City. At Blackburn, I went full throttle in every training session right from the start. I’m working very hard at the moment, I’ve been putting that on the pitch for the last few months and it’s earned me a lot of game time. These performances have made me a permanent fixture in the team.”
The small step back from an established Premier League club to the Championship (2nd division) has proved to be a stroke of luck for Khadra. A decision the striker has not regretted for one second. When Rovers approached him, he did not have to think twice. “Blackburn is a historic club in England with a lot of history,” Khadra said. “It was a great opportunity to develop and grow. With Blackburn, I found a loan club that supports me very well in many respects. You also have to be positive about the way the players, the whole team, and the fans treat me.”
© DDS
Reda Khadras supporter Mowbray: “He demands everything from you”
Mowbray, a 58-year-old veteran English coach, who in the past has been in charge of West Bromwich Albion, Celtic, and Middlesbrough—and Rovers for the last five years—is one of Khadra’s most important supporters. “He demands everything from you and gives you a lot of confidence,” Khadra said. “It’s anything but normal that I get that as a loan player. He tried out a lot with me and that’s how we discovered new sides of me. It was he who used me as a striker for the first time, and with success.” As a result, Khadra can now be used as an all-rounder in the attack and can play on the left, right or central.
Khadra described Mowbray as an old-school coach who is all about football. “There is a lot of heart and emotion in everything he does,” Khadra said. With an attractive style of play and youngsters like Khadra, top scorer Ben Brereton Díaz and Jan Paul van Hecke, who is also on loan from Brighton, the veteran coach has led the former top club back into a position where they can dream of promotion. After 36 games, they are in fourth place with 68 points and only Peterborough and Barnsley have a younger squad. “We have a very young, hungry team made up of a lot of talented players,” Khadra said. “We have to stay focused to be able to keep the places.”
But the common goal is clear. “We have proved that we are among the best this season, and we have to return to that form,” Khadra said. “I don’t think there’s any doubt that each of us wants to take this historic step and return a traditional club to the Premier League.” The former Dortmund player said, underlining in his position as a loanee. “Every game and promotion are important to me, and I am always doing my best. I think I’m doing that very well, and of course, the fans and the team see it.”
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Khadra stresses that his family is essential to him as a support, alongside coach Mowbray. Since he moved from Tennis Borussia Berlin to the BVB boarding school at 14, he has often been alone. “That’s why I’m already used to it,” Khadra said. “But I have a wonderful family who are always there for me and who, of course, try to be with me as often as possible.” And when they’re not, he spends his time on the training pitch—in addition to day trips to neighboring Manchester. “And after training, I see where I can work on myself even more.”
Khadra pointed out that his strengths are speed, dribbling, and finishing. “The combination makes me a very unpleasant opponent,” Khadra said, pointing out that he did not pick up the skills overnight. “It developed over time in youth and got better and better. I always knew what I was capable of, but with a few exceptions, I never had the opportunity to show the world what I was capable of for a longer period. And now, in my first real professional season, where I’ve been able to collect a lot of important minutes, I’ve been able to prove it consistently on the pitch.”
@reda_khadra7 with an outstanding performance against @SheffieldUnited & @QPR and got his reward in the end!@Rovers pic.twitter.com/OvPwmICyM2
— Hussein Hasuna (@Hasuna542) March 10, 2022
Khadra “concentrating on the here and now” – Not afraid of competition at Brighton
This inevitably raises the question of the future. Khadra denies that Blackburn have an option to make the deal permanent. “At the moment, I’m only concentrating on the here and now and on football, everything else we will have to wait and see.” Khadra is in regular contact with the loan managers of his parent club Brighton, where his contract runs until 2023. “Every now and then, we meet for a coffee and discuss various topics.”
The fact that the ambitious Seagulls have a top-class attacking line-up with players like Neal Maupay, Leandro Trossard and have already signed another striker for the coming season in the form of ex-Meppen player Deniz Undav (25) does not deter Khadra in any way. “These are strong players who can certainly help Brighton, but I know my qualities, and I have also proven them,” Khadra said. “I have shown what I can do. There are few players with my skills, so I go into every situation with confidence.”
He was born and (also football-wise) grew up in Germany, and both his parents come from Lebanon – Khadra has long since received an offer from the Lebanese association, but the tendency of his decision is clear: “Both countries, Lebanon and Germany, are definitely home for me. I am very grateful for the opportunity and the offers from the Lebanese national team. On the other hand, I was born and raised in Germany. I learned to play football here and played for the German U18 national team. At the time, there was no talk or consideration of even thinking about another nation.” He would be eligible to play for the U21 national team, among others, which competes against Latvia and Israel in the U21 European Championship qualifiers at the end of March.
Text and Interview: Marius Soyke (Matteo) Translation: Manuel Veth (AmsterdamLoewe)
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