Wirtz, Musiala, Fraudendorf and the 20 Germany youngsters with the most potential

FT Desk

• Updated: 7 May 2022 12:08 BST
• 2 min read

Germany boast an incredible youth production line, with the likes of Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala already capped at full international level despite both still being in their teens.

Mario Götze, Julian Draxler and Matthias Ginter were among the players still eligible for the U21s when Germany lifted the World Cup in Brazil in 2014, and they could take similar young promise to Qatar at the end of this year.

Aided by leading data analytics company SciSports, FootballTransfers can reveal the 10 German players who have the potential to reach the greatest heights in the game. These figures use hundreds of in-game data points and SciSports' algorithm to predict which stars will rise highest.

Only players aged 21 or under will be considered, and only if they are eligible to play for the Germany national team.

Who are Germany's stars of the future?

Bayer Leverkusen youngster Florian Wirtz is at the top of the pile, and little wonder. The attacking midfielder was firing his first Bundesliga goal past the great Manuel Neuer in just his fourth Bundesliga game, and this season contributed 19 goals and 22 assists in all competitions before injury.

He is followed by Bayern Munich starlet Jamal Musiala, a young midfielder two months older than Wirtz who Germany were delighted to cap last March after he had racked up 19 youth international outings with the Young Lions.

The podium is completed by Jan Thielmann, the Cologne player who, like Wirtz and Musiala, is happy occupying any of the attacking positions behind a central striker in the final third of the field.

Armel Bella-Kotchap is the highest-rated defender on the list. Also eligible to play for Cameroon - like his father, former striker Cyrille Florent Bella - Bella Kotchap has become a mainstay of Bochum's defence in the German top flight this season.

Liverpool academy player Melkamu Frauendorf is one of five players not currently plying their trade in Germany, Jonas Krumrey, Karim Adeyemi and Noah Katterbach just a border away in Austria and Switzerland respectively.