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Bundesliga’s Brightest Stars: Top 10 Wonderkids Taking Over This Season
Blogs

Bundesliga’s Brightest Stars: Top 10 Wonderkids Taking Over This Season

Bundesliga’s Brightest Stars: Top 10 Wonderkids Taking Over This Season

The Bundesliga has been a great place for the development of young footballers over the last few years, with the likes of Jamal Musiala, Jeremie Frimpong and Jadon Sancho having all played in the German league. This season has been no different, so this article will explore the different young players in the Bundesliga who are having stellar campaigns.

Paul Nebel - Mainz 05

On the slightly older end of this list, 22-year-old Paul Nebel is having an excellent breakout season with Mainz that is going under the radar. A lot of the talk around Mainz this season has been about Jonathan Burkhardt, however Nebel has been doing just as well in an attacking midfield role. Having come through the youth system at Mainz, he spent the last two years on loan in the second tier with Karlsruher SC. While his performances there were respectable, they hadn’t caught the eye of national attention.

That all changed this season, when he started to slowly make his way into the first team. He has started 23 of Mainz’s 31 games this season, making a further five appearances from the bench. His attacking numbers have been impressive, with eight goals and six assists from midfield, making him the club’s second highest scorer for this campaign. At just 22 years old, he is already arguably the club’s most crucial player, having played over 2,200 minutes this season, despite starting it as a substitute.

Noah Atubolu - SC Freiburg

Another 22-year-old, Noah Atubolu would be almost too old for this list if he was an outfield player, but as a starting goalkeeper in the Bundesliga, he should still be considered a youngster. He broke onto the scene last season, playing almost every minute for the club as they finished midtable, and yet his name is still not known outside his native Germany. This year has been a little bit more frustrating for Atubolu, as he is currently out with a shoulder injury that could see him miss the rest of the season, and yet he has still been one of the best goalkeepers in the Bundesliga.

Despite missing six games through injury this campaign, Atubolu still has the third most clean sheets in the league, with 10, and has helped his club challenge for Champions League football for the first time in their history. On top of that, with Germany’s golden age of goalkeepers approaching retirement, he could make a huge claim on the number one spot for his country should his performances keep at the current high standard.

Jamie Gittens - Borussia Dortmund

Jamie Gittens has been a part of the Dortmund team for some time now, but it has only been this season when the wider footballing world has been able to see his talent on centre stage. The 20-year-old prefers to play on the left hand side of Dortmund’s attack however he has been deployed in a number of positions in the forward line this season. In 20 league starts this season, Gittens has scored eight goals and registered four assists.

In the Champions League he has been just as productive, scoring four times and registering an assist as his side were knocked out by Barcelona in the Quarter Finals. He has now made over 100 appearances for Dortmund, however prior to this season the majority of them came from the bench. This year he has progressed more into a starting role, and has become one of their most crucial players as they look to push for a Champions League place.

Antonio Nusa - RB Leipzig

The first of two Leipzig players in this list. Antonio Nusa has been excellent this season, however an injury in February has kept him out of the action since then. He started the campaign in red hot form, registering three goal involvements in his first three games. Having just turned 20 last month, he is one of Leipzig’s youngest players, but is also one of their most versatile too. He has played both on the left and the right of the club’s attack this season, scoring and assisting on each side.

The injury setback was a devastating one for the youngster, however he has returned to training and should make it to the bench for their next match. Nusa broke onto the scene while at Club Brugge last season, making nearly 50 appearances for them. The season before that, when he was just 17 years old, he made a number of substitute appearances for the club in both the league and the Champions League. He became the second youngest goal scorer in Europe’s elite competition when he netted against Porto in a 4-0 win back in 2022, so he has been on the mainstage for a while, but now we are beginning to see his quality consistently.

Arthur Vermeeren - RB Leipzig

Another 20-year-old RB Leipzig player, Arthur Vermeeren joined on loan from Atletico Madrid at the start of the season before being signed permanently in January. I could have included Xavi Simons or Benjamin Sesko for Leipzig as well, however both of them have been performing at the top level for many years, while Vermeeren was playing for Royal Antwerp last season. As a defensive midfielder, the Belgian rarely progresses into an attacking position, instead solidifying the spine of the team.

He has made 25 appearances this season, and while quite a few have been from the bench, he has still created a good impression in Eastern Germany. Leipzig are in the middle of a battle for fourth place and his reliability in midfield has been a welcome addition to the squad. He has recently captained the Belgian Under 21 squad in a friendly against Andorra, and has even had a senior call up this season, however breaking into the first team ahead of the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and Youri Tielemans would be a difficult task.

Tom Bischof - Hoffenheim

Despite Hoffenheim’s poor season this season, it would be wrong if I didn’t include Tom Bischof in this list. The 19-year-old midfielder has already agreed a deal with Bayern Munich for next season, which shows just how influential he has been in this campaign. Despite his age, just two outfield players have played more minutes than Bischof this season. The Germany Under 20s international has made 38 appearances across all competitions for Hoffenheim this season.

In total he has managed nine goal involvements, six goals and three assists, which is an impressive return considering how poor Hoffenheim have done this season and the position he plays. A number of his goals have been crucial as well, including one in his club’s 4-3 win over Leipzig back in November and the only goal away from home against fellow strugglers Bochum. Without him next season, Hoffenheim could struggle, especially as he is going for free. Bischof's future certainly looks bright, however he needs to be careful that he hasn’t traded in game time just to play for Germany’s biggest club.

Jamal Musiala - Bayern Munich

I know that earlier I didn’t include Sesko and Simons because they have been at the top level for a while now, but Jamal Musiala has to be included in this list because he is one of the best young footballers in world football. It is hard to forget, with how long he has been in the limelight, that Musiala is still just 22 years old. This season he has managed 26 goal involvements for 40 games.

Injuries haven’t been particularly kind to Musiala this season, as he has missed 10 games across all competitions, and is currently out again with a torn muscle. This season started so well for him, with 12 goal involvements in his first 13 league appearances, but his performances have dropped off as of late, at least by his ridiculously high standards. Even so of all of the players on this list he has still had the most impressive season and so rightfully makes it on here.

Hugo Larsson - Eintracht Frankfurt

The first of two Frankfurt players called Hugo, Hugo Larsson has been one of the club’s most consistent performers this season, both pre and post Omar Marmoush’s exit which seems to have knocked the squad down quite a bit. What might come as a bit of a surprise is that Larsson was actually performing much like he is now, last season, but because Frankfurt finished sixth rather than the third that they currently are, he went under the radar. Even now, much of the media’s focus has been on Marmoush and Hugo Ekitike.

Larsson has managed a respectable seven goal involvements this season which includes three crucial goals in the Europa League against RFS, Midtjylland and Ajax. Despite his role in midfield, he is more prone to scoring goals rather than assisting them. This season he has provided a crucial role in the middle of the park as Frankfurt aim to qualify for the Champions League for just the second time in their history.

Hugo Ekitike - Eintracht Frankfurt

Like RB Leipzig, Frankfurt have used a lot of young players to their full potential this season, however I have to go with Ekitike in this instance because of how he has silenced the critics. There was a lot of talk going into this season that the Frenchman was going to flop in Germany like he had done at PSG, however the 22-year-old has shown that he is still the same player that he was at Reims where he broke through as a teenager.

In total, he has now scored 22 goals and registered 10 assists across 45 games this season. In the league the number of goals is 15, making him one of the highest scorers. While Marmoush was at the club, Ekitike’s goals were going under the radar because of how well Marmoush was doing, however now he is his club’s main man and one of the most important players in the whole league. It took him a while to find his feet after leaving Reims, but it looks like he has finally managed it.

Florian Wirtz - Bayer Leverkusen

The final player on the list is one that we all know. Florian Wirtz wasn’t on the radar of many football fans or journalists before his ridiculous breakout campaign last season, but now every move he makes is being watched closely. It would have been impossible for Wirtz to replicate his performances from last season in this campaign, but he has still impressed with 28 goal involvements in 42 appearances.

Like Nusa, Wirtz started the season in red hot form, with four goals in his first four Bundesliga games, and while he hasn’t kept up that ratio, he has still been able to help Leverkusen secure another top four finish this season. With his numbers this campaign showing that he isn’t just a one season wonder, clubs such as Arsenal and Manchester City have been eyeing him up, ready to offer over £100m for him this summer. Whether he leaves or stays is yet to be decided, but I’m sure whoever gets him will have snapped up a generational talent.

Benji Kosartiyer
Journalist
Jake Martin

Website Editor

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