Genk Agree Record Deal with Dortmund for Kos Karetsas
Genk are set to cash in on their next academy jewel, and it will cost Borussia Dortmund a club-record fee for the Belgians.
According to Bob Faesen of HLN, Genk and Dortmund have reached an agreement over the transfer of 18-year-old Kos Karetsas, the latest standout to roll off the club’s prolific production line. The move will break Genk’s record for an outgoing transfer, underlining just how highly the Greek playmaker is rated inside the club and across Europe.
The exact fee remains under wraps, but Genk had been pushing for around €35 million. Whatever the final number, it will write Karetsas into the club’s history before he even kicks a ball in the Bundesliga.
From Genk’s academy to Dortmund’s talent factory
For Genk, this is a familiar story. They scout early, develop quietly, then sell big.
Karetsas follows the path of Bilal El Khannous and a long list of academy graduates who have stepped into the first team as teenagers and quickly attracted attention from abroad. He made his senior debut at just 16 during the 2023/24 season, a sign of the trust Genk’s staff placed in his maturity and technical quality.
The following campaign, he became a regular. Karetsas played 39 games, scored three goals and provided three assists, easing himself into the rhythm of senior football while Genk tried to rebuild around another new generation.
Then came the real leap.
In the 2025/26 season, while Genk struggled collectively, Karetsas exploded individually. The 18-year-old featured 49 times in all competitions, again scoring three goals but, crucially, racking up 14 assists. In a side fighting to find consistency, he emerged as a creative reference point, the player who could unlock a defence or deliver the final ball.
Those numbers, at that age, in that context, were always going to turn heads.
A deliberate choice: Dortmund or nothing
Plenty of clubs circled. Karetsas, though, had a clear idea of what he wanted.
He chose Borussia Dortmund as his preferred destination, seeing the Bundesliga club as the best environment to refine his game and grow as a player. For a teenager with options, that kind of clarity matters. Dortmund’s reputation is built on exactly these moves: identify a high-ceiling talent, give him minutes, then watch him explode on the European stage.
A five-year deal now awaits him in Germany. The plan is obvious. Dortmund get another gifted young attacker to mould; Karetsas gets a platform where patience and opportunity tend to go hand in hand.
Genk, meanwhile, lose another homegrown star but bank a record fee that will help fund the next wave.
One academy, one of Europe’s most trusted finishing schools, and a teenager stepping into a league that rarely forgives hesitation. The numbers on the contract are still confidential, but the message is loud enough: Dortmund believe Kos Karetsas is worth betting big on.
