#17 Felix Passlack
Borussia Dortmund is a club with an embarrassment of riches in the talented youth section. Alongside the likes of established stars like Aubameyang and Reus, Dortmund have recently developed a number of talented youngsters.
In the past transfer window, they acquired some of the finest talents available – Ousmane Dembele, Emre Mor, Raphael Guerreiro and Marc Bartra. But another player on the cusp of the first team has been brought in from their youth academy itself – Felix Passlack.
A right back by trade, the German moved to Dortmund’s youth academy from RW Oberhausen in 2012 and has just been promoted to the first team this season. In a surprising start to the campaign, Thomas Tuchel named Passlack in the right back slot over Lukasz Piszczek in the DFL-Supercup against Bayern Munich. In what was supposed to be an extremely tough outing against the left wing combination of David Alaba and Frank Ribery, Passlack put in a man of the match worthy shift.
The German U-19 player is pretty handy in the final third as well. While playing for the U-17 and U-19 squad for Dortmund, the right back managed to score 37 goals while also assisting another 32 in just 64 appearances. In Germany’s first match of the U-17 Euros last year, he scored what was possibly the goal of the tournament.
This season, he has bagged a goal for the senior side in the Champions League as well. His stability at the back has been very good, but his past exploits in front of goal highlight his impeccable technique.
The heir apparent to Piszczek is mounting a serious challenge against his senior for the right back role this season. And 2017 could be the year where Passlack overtakes Piszczek for the spot he has had for the major part of the past decade.
