The majority of the buzz coming out of Germany in the past year or so has been at the hands of Mario Gotze, who has been the one to shine as the next big thing after proving his worth for Borussia Dortmund and at international level with Germany. But less has been made about the other attacking members of the Dortmund side that won the league last season and see them currently sitting in 2nd place in the Bundesliga. The emergence of Lucas Barrios and Robert Lewandowski was clear as they took hold of the German top flight and proved their worth after coming from relatively unknown backgrounds.
With the prolific goalscoring abilities of the Dortmund midfield last year, with the likes of Großkreutz, Kagawa and Gotze, it was easy to overlook the rising talent of their two centre forwards. Although Barrios often got the nod ahead of Lewandowski, the Polish striker managed to demonstrate his talents and notch 8 goals at the tender age of 22. He showed he was more than capable of stepping up to the challenge of a new level of football, having joined from Lech Poznan in his home country of Poland. This season he has gone from strength to strength, scoring 12 goals in 17 domestic games for Dortmund. His form has been red hot and his development swift, putting him ahead of Barrios on the teamsheet.
Barrios has been a prolific goalscorer for the past two seasons in the Bundesliga, with a total of 16 for last season, having scored also netted 19 in 09/10 at the club. Although not having the same opportunities and suffering from a lack of goals this term, Lucas has proved that he can be a top level striker when in form. He’s no stranger to playing the lone striker role, with attacking wingers, a tactic deployed by many Premiership sides these days, and can bring team mates into play by holding up the ball and using his strength. His explosive power and hunger for goals seems to go hand in hand with the characteristics some of the top managers in Europe are looking for.
Recent word coming out of the rumour mill is that Chelsea are keeping a close eye on him, after the initial interest dating back to August appeared to be from Liverpool. You could see him being a decent option for either side, as they both currently lack an out and out goalscorer who is regularly getting in the box, poaching and finishing moves. The issue may be the Paraguayan’s recent form which has seen him fail to score and left him slightly lacking in match sharpness. It would be risky move, but one that could be worth taking seeing as though his price-tag wouldn’t be as high as some of the other options available on the market. Interest has also reportedly come in from other sides around Europe including Ligue One outfit Marseille and Spanish cash-splashers Malaga.
More promise however may be seen in Robert Lewandowski. At 23 years old he has recently been on the receiving end of some high praise from fellow Bundesliga star Franck Ribery. The Frenchman was quoted as saying that Lewandowski would be ‘a more valuable player than Gotze, he is a super player.’ If he continues his current hot run of form, then he could well be working his way onto a few shortlists. He would appear to also be a suitable candidate for the Premiership, with the development on his technical game and goalscoring in the past year.
However, many may still see him as a work in progress, and decline to take a risk on a player still making his mark on the club where he has his first real breakthrough, and wait for some consistency. Dortmund may also, understandably be reluctant to sell, and as we have seen before it is unfortunately relatively rare for players to come straight out of the Bundesliga to England, particularly at an early age. Hopefully after what appears to be a thrilling season in the German top division, European managers will start to take note of the ever-increasing value and emerging talent of players in this division.
Follow me on Twitter: @HazbTwit
Introducing the neat little app that’ll pay you to view content tailored to your interests:
ThisisFutbol.com are seeking new writers to join the team! If you’re passionate about football, drop us a line at “thisisfutbol.com@snack-media.com” to learn more.