The last decade has seen Germany’s top division become a successful breeding ground for the next big stars of world football.
Toni Kroos and Mesut Ozil are just two players who constitute living proof of this, with the likes of Leon Bailey and Christian Pulisic hoping to follow in their footsteps.
A testament to the Bundesliga and their clubs is the fact so many youngsters (including from the United Kingdom) are choosing to have their education in the German top-flight.
There are so many promising talents across the 18 teams which make up the competition it’s difficult to whittle it down to just 10 Bundesliga wonderkids you need to keep an eye out for on in 2018/19. But, we’ve gone and had a go at doing just that. Here they are.
1. Paulinho
Age: 18
Club: Bayer 04 Leverkusen
Position: Left-winger
2017/18 Bundesliga appearances (minutes): 0 (0)
Signed from boyhood club Vasco da Gama in the summer, Paulinho is seen by many as promising as Real Madrid’s very own Brazilian wonderkid, VinÃcius Júnior.
A multifunctional forward, the native of Rio can play across the front line but is really home playing from the left where he can cut inside onto his favoured right foot.
2. Jadon Sancho
Age: 18
Club: Borussia Dortmund
Position: Left-winger
2017/18 Bundesliga appearances (minutes): 12 (685)
Eyebrows were raised when Sancho swapped Manchester City for Borussia Dortmund last summer but it has proven to be a good decision. His first season in Germany saw the Londoner accumulate no fewer than 13 appearances, with just more than half coming from the start. But such have been the quality of his performances, Sancho is expected to play a prominent role under new boss Lucien Favre.
3. Michaël Cuisance
Age: 19
Club: Borussia Mönchengladbach
Position: Central midfielder
2017/18 Bundesliga appearances (minutes): 24 (1,195)
Another emerging French midfielder is Cuisance, who relocated from boyhood club Nancy to Gladbach in the summer of 2017. He is now part of the Bundesliga’s club furniture. A skilful central midfielder, who can play in front of the defence if need be, many are mooting 2018/19 as the season he truly puts himself in contention to be a future Les Bleus international.
4. Kai Havertz
Age: 19
Club: Bayer 04 Leverkusen
Position: Attacking midfielder
2017/18 Bundesliga appearances (minutes): 30 (2,138)
Earlier this year Havertz became the youngest player to reach 50 Bundesliga appearances.
It feels like he has been around for ages, but the highly-rated Aachen-born midfielder only turned 19 in June, and with a number of clubs already circling this forthcoming campaign could be his last for Leverkusen.
5. Dayot Upamecano
Age: 19
Club: RB Leipzig
Position: Centre-back
2017/18 Bundesliga appearances (minutes): 28 (2,264)
It’s ridiculous how many talented young French centre-backs there are. Upamecano, who is looking forward to a third campaign with Leipzig, can be placed among them.
His second year with the Bundesliga upstarts saw him establish himself and he is now looking to go one beyond and be among the first names on Ralf Rangnick’s team sheet.
6. Bote “Ridle” Baku
Age: 20
Club: Mainz 05
Position: Central midfielder
2017/18 Bundesliga appearances (minutes): 3 (234)
Baku, born and raised in Mainz, is yet another successful product of his boyhood club’s academy system. We got a glimpse of his potential last season, playing nominally in central midfield, where he expertly retained and recycled position, so expect big things in 2018/19.
7. Aarón MartÃn
Age: 21
Club: Mainz 05
Position: Left-back
2017/18 Bundesliga appearances (minutes): 0 (0)
Having played 5,402 minutes for Espanyol over the past two La Liga season, Martin earned a reputation as one of the most promising defenders in Spain through crossing ability to rival Marcelo’s statistically. Mainz’s capture may have come as a surprise, but should he maintain or improve on the 31 chances he created last season, it might not be long before an even bigger transfer is comes his way.
8. Luka Jović
Age: 20
Club: Eintracht Frankfurt
Position: Striker
2017/18 Bundesliga appearances (minutes): 22 (927)
A powerful centre-forward bagged eight goals across 22 appearances (one every 116 minutes) in his debut Bundesliga campaign last time out. The young Serbian marksman, entrusted with leading Frankfurt’s forward line, will no doubt be hungry to improve on that total.
9. Marco Richter
Age: 20
Club: FC Augsburg
Position: Forward
2017/18 Bundesliga appearances (minutes): 12 (598)
Richter ultimately made 12 appearances in his debut Bundesliga season, bagging a single goal along the way, and though he can spearhead the attack he’s seemingly more comfortable playing as a deep-lying forward, where he can link both sides of the game.
10. Felix Uduokhai
Age: 20
Club: VfL Wolfsburg
Position: Centre-back
2017/18 Bundesliga appearances (minutes): 19 (1,558)
Uduokhai began last season as a regular starter for The Wolves but a serious knee injury, sustained in early January, restricted his appearances making him even more determined to pick up from where he left off. A talented centre-back, with an intelligent reading of the game, he was linked with Arsenal in the summer, but his short-term future lies with Wolfsburg and this is music to their supporters ears.
The post 10 Bundesliga wonderkids to watch this season appeared first on Squawka News.
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