Raghavendra Goudar
Remember when all the Premier League’s biggest incoming summer transfers were players from the Bundesliga? Us neither because it never happened, that is, until now.
Yep, unless you’ve been living under a rock these past few months, you may have noticed that all the talk in the papers is of players like Kai Havertz, Timo Werner, and the one and only Jadon Sancho.
It seems the Bundesliga is breeding winners as the league becomes ever more competitive year after year.
Of course, that said and as is customary at this point in the season, picking a winner in the Bundesliga is simple. In fact, it has been the same way for the last eight seasons, right? But the race for second place is no foregone conclusion and it brings one of those names that we mentioned earlier into the limelight.
As you may have guessed, we’re talking about Jadon Sancho, the enigmatic England winger that would look so much better in a redshirt.
Since leaving that blue lot, Sancho has gone from strength to strength. His passing is sublime, he gives his all every minute he’s on the pitch, and he has started to find the back of the net regularly.
Sancho stats
His stats read like that of an accomplished winger in his prime. In the 2018/19 season, he made 43 appearances in the German Cup, Bundesliga, and Champions League scoring 13 goals and assisting a further 19. Pretty impressive and to be fair, as a 20-year-old, no one expected him to do much more than match those stats for this season.
Yet in 41 appearances so far, he has managed to score 20 and assist a further 20. That’s nothing short of phenomenal and explains why we’re constantly linked with the player.
It also begs the question – what are the Bundesliga players having for their breakfast? While we know all too well that there are some fantastic players in the German league, in recent years it’s become all too clear that it’s one of the best leagues for player development.
Sancho’s incredible stats have seen him valued at over £100m which is a price tag that even the wealthiest of clubs might balk at this summer. As a result, we’re now looking at cheaper options and interestingly, one of our alternatives is another Bundesliga player albeit one who has hit a slump in form.
The perfect league for development
Reports suggest that Leon Bailey is on our radar. Once one of the most exciting players in the world, injuries have curtailed his development, but he is still an exciting prospect.
Another option would have been Timo Werner, but as we all know, he’s now on his way to Stamford Bridge. Can you see a pattern here? The most exciting young prospects in world football are either Bundesliga academy products or players who have joined the league to improve their development (Erling Håland!)
The fact is that players (and their agents) are starting to realise that the Bundesliga is proving to be one of the best environments for player development. In fact, this is allegedly why Håland chose Dortmund over United, feeling that he wasn’t yet ready for the Premier League.
For decades, top-flight English clubs have sent their young players to the Championship and even the Scottish Premiership to help them develop their skills and mature as players. But with all due respect, the skill level is just not there in either league. In some cases, a loan to a lower league club can actually hinder a player’s progress.
The Bundesliga, on the other hand, is an entirely different beast. The success of Sancho, Håland, Tyler Adams, and even Bayern’s Dutch teenage striker Joshua Zirkzee has shown us that when it comes to player development, Bundesliga teams have their ducks in a row.
Whatever it is about their coaching set-ups, they know how to get the best out of a young player without burning him out before he’s hit his prime.
So where are we going with this?
Loan players to German teams
Look, we’re not big fans of loaning out players to lower league teams. We’d rather see them stay and get their chances in the cup games with the odd league appearance here and there. Having said that, the truth is we need the loan system. Our academy is bursting with talent and there are only so many squad players you can have.
Right now we risk losing these players to vulture clubs that want to poach academy prospects with promises of minutes on the pitch. So instead of loaning them out to the lower league clubs, why not send them to foreign shores?
There was even talk recently of Daniel James heading out on loan if we got Sancho. Of course, this is nonsense, but it got us to thinking where James could have gone that would have helped his progress? The only realistic answer, as you may have guessed, is Germany. And so we should consider this for the other academy prospects that are on the fringes of the first team.
Think about it. The Bundesliga has a proven track record of nurturing young foreign players and helping them in their development. Loanees who took their chance would be playing against some of the most talented players in Europe. Imagine how a player like Tyler Blackett might have progressed had he been on the pitch with the likes of Lewandowski, Hummels, and Muller? And we’re pretty sure Cameron Borthwick-Jackson would prefer to be lining up against Håland and Sancho instead of League Two’s finest.
Look it might not be a guarantee of success but there’s no denying the fact that the Bundesliga is currently a breeding ground for winners. And if we can’t manage to sign their exciting young prospects, then perhaps we should have them help us develop ours.
Two years in the Bundesliga could be exactly what the likes of D’Mani Mellor or Tahith Ching need to help them fulfill their potential. At the very least, they’ll mature as players and come back with a more rounded experience than if they played in League Two.
