It is always interesting to track the career developments of young players and finding out if they ever live up to the hype. Some end up fulfilling all the promise they showed in their younger years, while others simply peaked early and never lived up to the expectations that surrounded them.
Today, some of the more promising young prospects who have been receiving considerable amounts of attention include Jadon Sancho, Frenkie de Jong, Kylian Mbappé, João Félix, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Matthijs de Ligt, Christian Pulisic, and Luka Jović, just to name a few.
However, there is one young player who has consistently gone under the radar. It may be because he doesn't have a flashy playstyle, doesn't play for a glamorous, big-market club (in fact, his club is despised by most in the league in which he plays), and has never commanded anything approaching the fees paid out to sign some of the players just mentioned.
Still only 23, this player has been on a clear upward trajectory and has established himself as a rising star, but seldom receives the credit which he deserves.
This player is RB Leipzig striker Timo Werner.
Leipzig began their Bundesliga campaign on the right track. The Saxony club registered a 2-1 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt in the first league matchday of the season. Werner played a key role in the victory by scoring Die Roten Bullen's opening goal. He posed a major threat to Eintracht's defense throughout and combined well with strike partner Yussuf Poulsen.
Despite his young age, Werner has been quietly impressive for Leipzig ever since he joined the club in 2016.
In 95 Bundesliga games for Leipzig, Werner has scored 52 goals, with 21 of those coming in his breakout first season with Leipzig in 2016-17. He has been one of the Bundesliga's more consistent strikers over this period and was deservedly named as part of Germany's ultimately doomed World Cup squad.
However, despite his poor World Cup, he has been impressive for Die Mannschaft as well. In a team loaded with talent up front, Werner has already amassed 25 caps and 10 international goals at the age of 23. He was also the top scorer in the 2017 Confederations Cup.
There is every possibility that Werner might be primed to take his game to the next level soon. Werner already possesses impressive speed, ball control, and finishing skills. If he were to refine his decision-making and improve his passing a little more, he might very well become one of the most feared strikers on the planet.
Werner also holds three "youngest" records in the Bundesliga. He is the youngest player to score at least two goals in a game, to play 100 games, and to play 150 games.
Having already achieved all of this, it is surprising and something of an injustice that the Stuttgart-born player is seldom regarded as one of the brightest young prospects in world football, because he clearly is.
It must be kept in mind that if his career were to follow the trajectory of most players, he is still four to six years from his absolute peak. The fact that he already has such an impressive record in a major league for one of its leading clubs should give Leipzig fans much excitement and anticipation for what he might achieve in the years to come.
This excitement should only increase after Werner spurned Bayern Munich to remain at the Red Bull Arena until 2023. Many a young Bundesliga player in his position have been drawn away from other clubs by the allure of the glamour, prestige, history, opportunity for trophies, big market, and of course the money which the Bavarian giants are able to offer. However, such was clearly not the case with Werner, much to the delight of Leipzig fans (and the chagrin of many of other Bundesliga clubs).
Given all that he has already accomplished in his young career, it is evident that Werner could easily go on to become one of the best players in the world if his career continues on the path on which it has been. It's time he got his due - he has undeservedly gone under the radar for far too long.
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