Germany: Five stars to watch out for in the future
The men's national team of Germany are a footballing powerhouse with few peers in modern sport. Their continuous success has been facilitated by a steady stream of young players rising up to fill the boots of ageing stalwarts.Lets take a look at five young stars poised to help the reigning world champions continue their winning ways for many more years.
#5 Niklas Sule
Age: 22, Position: Centre-Back, Club: Bayern Munich
The story so far:
As a fearsome young striker at TSG Hoffenheim's youth academy, Niklas Sule was large for his age and quick for his size. Lacking a good centre-back and estimating that the position would be a good fit for his physical gifts, the academy coaches began to play Sule at the heart of the team's defense. He flourished in the new role going on to make his Bundesliga debut months before his eighteenth birthday.
Over the next two years he established himself as Hoffenheim's defensive mainstay before a cruciate ligament injury forced him out of action for almost seven months. Not one to be bogged down easily he returned as an improved player helping Hoffenheim to a fourth place finish in the 2016-17 season. He was also an integral part of the German side that secured a silver at the 2016 Olympics.
In 2017 he snubbed interest from multiple English clubs to secure a move to Bayern Munich for an undisclosed fee. With Jerome Boateng and Mats Hummels intermittently injured, Sule has put in solid performances to make an immediate impact for the Bavarian giants.
Why he is special:
Standing at 6'4'' and weighing 200 pounds with surprising pace and fearsome aerial ability he truly is a man mountain at defense. But it is his consistent passing, acute positional awareness and the composure of a more experienced defender that sets him apart as an "almost perfect centre back". With his recent move to Bayern Munich and his performances for the national side in the Confederations Cup, Sule looks primed to be Jerome Boateng's long term successor for club and country.
Trivia:
Sule once scored 100 goals in a season as an U-10 striker for his boyhood club Rot-Weiss Walldorf.