Germany: Five stars to watch out for in the future

#3 Leon Goretzka

Leon Goretzka

Age: 22, Position: Midfielder, Club: Schalke 04

The story so far:

Leon Goretzka was a stellar youth player for Germany and captained the U-17 squad to the finals of the European Championship. After making his senior club debut for Vfl Bochum as a seventeen year old, he moved to Schalke 04 the following year.

Widely regarded as the best young player in Germany and a future captain of the national side, Goretzka's career was derailed by consistent injuries and he ended up missing a third of all matches for the Royal Blues over the next three years. It seemed like the lanky midfielder would never live up to the immense promise of his youth.

But Leon Goretzka overhauled his diet and came back strongly in 2016, playing in 30 out of 34 league matches and scoring 5 goals. He made the German squad for the Confederations Cup and was joint top scorer with three goals. His performances earned him high praise from Joachim Low. He has continued his great form into the 2017/18 season having already scored 4 goals from 9 appearances.

Why he is special:

Goretzka is a full blown two way player who can protect the defense by breaking up plays with timely tackles and interceptions and can also surge forward and launch powerful shots at goal.

He is a fine passer who can be relied upon to pick out passes for his team mates to start attacks from the defensive half. Standing at 6'2'' he is lethal in the air and often scores goals with his head.

Goretzka's versatility is such that he can defend, hold the ball, make runs, create chances and score with equal ease. Not since Bastian Schweinsteiger has Germany seen anyone with such a complete skill set.

Trivia:

Leon Goretzka is a recipient of the U-17 Fritz Walter Gold Medal which is a series of annual awards recognizing the best youth footballers in Germany.