“I’m living my dream!”

Berlin-born Jessic Ngankam has played for the club since 2006, and became a part of the first team squad in May 2020. The 20 year old spoke to herthabsc.de about the past, the present and the future.

There are moments that stay in the memory of a professional footballer forever. That’s no different for Jessic Ngankam, who has been a Hertha player since the age of five and joined the first-team squad in May 2020. “I am living my dream! At home I have a photo of me with Marcelinho from when I was five years old. It was taken at my first day at Hertha BSC. Of course, it’s an amazing memory for me and shows how much of a Herthaner I really am!” the 20 year old told herthabsc.de, highlighting his long-term connection to the club.

This connection reached a new level during the coronavirus break as the attacker was called up to the first-team squad alongside Márton Dárdai by head coach Bruno Labbadia, and featured in the matchday squad for each of the 9 remaining fixtures after the restart. The first of those nine, which was Labbadia’s first game in charge, saw Ngankam introduced as a substitute. The 20 year old went on to make three more appearances from the bench. In the final game of the season against Borussia Mönchengladbach, Ngankam registered his first professional assist in his fourth appearance. “After the break, everything went really, really quickly for me. Day in, day out, I was training with the first team. I was very pleased to have made my Bundesliga debut, and it was an amazing feeling after 15 years in the youth teams,” said the attacker. The only minor issue from the final nine games was that each of Ngankam’s four appearances were in away games – the 20 year old is still yet to run out at the Olympiastadion.

“I have a lot to learn”

It should be a question of ‘when’ rather than ‘if’ and a home debut is likely to come in the new season. “Unfortunately that hasn’t happened yet, but it is a goal for next season. In general, I want to remain healthy throughout pre-season and see what is possible in the coming season,” said Ngankam, who is putting in the hard minutes on the training ground as he works towards his aim. “The first weeks of pre-season were very tiring, but the hard work will pay off as we will start the season in very good shape.” The attacker noted the higher levels of tempo, intelligence and understanding for the game to be the major differences between the first-team squad and the youth teams.

Ngankam knows which areas of his own game he also has to work on. “I still have a lot to learn, both tactically and physically. However I think that I haven’t done too badly so far.” Despite his achievements, Ngankam is not resting on his laurels and is has a lot of intentions for the future alongside with the head coach. “Bruno Labbadia plays a very big role in my development. I am very grateful that I can take this path with him. I put everything into every training session in order to get the best out of myself and continue to develop,” said the 20 year old of his determination to succeed. It is this determination that will lead him, one day, to more lifelong memories to go alongside his childhood photo with Marcelinho.