100 best young players to watch-out for in 2014 - Part 1

26) Sead Kolasinac

Who is he?: Sead Kolasinac is a 20 year old left-back who plays for Schalke in the Bundesliga. The German-born defender has played for Germany at various age levels before accepting the offer to play for Bosnia and Herzegovina at the senior level.

Back in 2013: The year 2013, at least the first half, will be one that will be fondly remembered by the young left-back. After a couple of appearances in the 1st half of the 2012-13 season, it was in 2013 that Kolasinac was given a run in the starting XI. He played in central midfield in Schalke’s first game of the calendar year in a memorable 5-4 win against Hannover. He was a consistent fixture in the side from then on, featuring at his more customary left-back position. The 2013-14 season though has been a frustrating one for the youngster with an injury plagued start to the season. He had to wait till the end of October for his first start of the season and has been eased back into the starting XI.

Kolasinac was a regular fixture for the German youth teams but as mentioned before, he’s decided to take up the opportunity to play for Bosnia-Herzegovina and played the entire 90 minutes in a friendly against Argentina in November.

Looking to 2014: The Bundesliga has become the hotbed of young footballing talent and has created an environment in which young prospects can thrive in. Kolasinac is no different and he’ll be looking to put his stop-start end to the season behind him for the 2nd half of the season.