United States youth international Christian Pulisic has been promoted to first team training at Borussia Dortmund.
Pulisic and Germany youth international Felix Passlack, both 17, took part in the first BVB training session of 2016 on Monday, kicker reported.
It said they would be part of the Dortmund squad travelling to the club's winter training camp in Dubai and would take part in first team training from now on. They could also be called up to the squad when needed.
The duo are set to help fill the gap left by midfielder Jonas Hofmann, who joined Borussia Monchengladbach for a reported €8 million earlier this month.
Defender Matthias Ginter urged them to "enjoy it" and, quoted on Dortmund's official Twitter feed, said he expected they would bring "freshness" to training.
.@MatzeGinter über @cpulisic_10 und @PasslackFelix: Erwarte, dass sie Frische & Unbekümmertheit mitbringen. Sollen es aber erstmal genießen.
- Borussia Dortmund (@BVB) January 5, 2016
Attacking midfielder Pulisic has been one of the outstanding players for Borussia Dortmund's youth academy since joining in January 2015.
He has been a key player for their under-19 side, who currently lead the regional first division, scoring four goals and setting up a further three this season.
The youngster played for the first team in a friendly at second tier club FC St. Pauli in September, and in February former Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp said: "He's a great footballer. He can pass the ball around really well."