England haven’t had much to shout about in recent encounters with Germany, and this time they have come out second best in the battle for the allegiance of one of the hottest young talents in the German Bundesliga, attacking midfielder Lewis Holtby, currently causing a bit of a stir on loan at Mainz from Schalke. His progress hasn’t gone unnoticed by Germany coach, Joachim Loew, who handed the Under 21s’captain his first start for the full German national team against Sweden last week, which ended any remote chance of him wearing the Three Lions’ jersey. After playing for Germany from Under 18 level upwards, having lived there all his life, and England’s traditional preference for physique over intelligence, it is easy to see why he opted for Germany, despite interest from Fabio Capello and a small group of England supporters eager for new talent to rejuvenate the squad following a dire World Cup.
Holtby is left-footed and can play out wide or in the hole and measures 1.76 m (5ft 8ins) and weighs a meagre 72kg (11st 4lbs). He possesses a quick pair of feet, decent pace, excellent technique and a very good football brain, all of which has led to comparisons with compatriot Mesut Ozil. Holtby is not a natural goalscorer, averaging 1 in 7 games, but it is his prolific assists record that is his main attraction. Like Ozil, he has the vision for killer, defence-splitting through balls, often without needing a touch to control the ball.
If you aren’t a follower of German football, the Lewis Holtby story might have escaped your attention. He was born in Erkelenz, Germany on 19/9/1990 to an English father and German mother. His father, Chris, is a former soldier from Liverpool, who was stationed at Rheindalen RAF base Moenchengladbach, and is a huge Everton supporter who succeeded in making his son a loyal Toffees follower from afar. Lewis has stated that it would be a dream come true to play for the Goodison Park outfit, in spite of flattering interest from Arsenal and Manchester United, amongst other admirers. Unfortunately for Evertonians, the next royal blue shirt Holtby will pull on will probably be that of parent club Schalke, who will surely recall him when his loan spell at Mainz ends at the season’s end. How the Gelsenkirchen-based club and manager Felix Magath must wish they could call on the 20 year-old now after their toils in the league this season.
His first professional club in 2004, at the age of eleven, was Borussia Moenchengladbach, where he stayed until 2004, when he was released for reasons that an English club would probably come up with, being too small and too slow- a move that they may well live to regret now. Upon that rejection, he decided to try his luck at the more modest club Alemannia Aachen on the border with Belgium and the Netherlands. There, he made his first team debut in the second division on the last day of the 2007/08 season and became a first team fixture in the following campaign, with 8 goals and 10 assists in 32 games earning him a move to the top flight with Schalke in the summer of 2009.
Holtby found it hard to break into the first team at the Veltins-Arena, making only 9 appearances in the first half of the season, laying on 2 assists. After the winter break, he was loaned to Bochum to get more top flight experience, but despite 2 goals and 2 assists in 14 appearances, he couldn’t save Bochum from relegation, and his loan was curtailed at the end of that 2009/10 season.
After a squad overhaul at this summer at Schalke, Holtby found himself out on loan again, this time at Mainz under young coach Thomas Tuchel. He can’t have imagined what would happen next, with Mainz equalling the Bundesliga record 7 consecutive wins from the start of the season, and Holtby weighing in with 2 goals and 7 assists in 13 games. Forming part of a young attacking ‘rockstar’ trio with Andre Schuerrle (due to join Leverkusen at the season’s end) and the Hungarian Adam Szalai, which has wowed the crowds at the Stadion am Bruchweg, Holtby has played his way into the reckoning for the national team, and put him on the radar of the big clubs.
Holtby would probably command a transfer fee around the 10 million euro mark if Schalke are willing to sell, and he probably needs to play in the Champions League to test himself at the top level, which is unlikely at Schalke next season unless they show a vast improvement in the league. He is a very level-headed character who plays with a smile on his face and for his teammates. All in all, he is a great ambassador for the new generation of young German flair players and is well worth keeping your eye on for the future.
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