Weigl. Breakout King?

1st July 2015 was a good day for one of our youngsters. It was the day our new lad, finally clawed his way out of the second league and into the might that is the Bundesliga. Fans were excited but reserved. Though he was well sought after, his name was not one we expected to hear roar through the battlefield that is our stadium; and yet, the Suedtribuene wont stop chanting his name. Well then, who was he?

Julian Weigl of course. At the tender age of 20, he joined us from 1860 Munich on a fee of 2.5 million Euro. He had previously moved from 1860 Rosenheim to the Bavarian lions where he trained for their second team. That is until Friedhelm Funkel, the head coach of 1860 Munich at the time, laid his eyes upon him and pulled him up into his squad. During his time at the U19 team he managed to amass the captain armband, however lost it after a night out drinking with the lads, during which he represented the club in a bad light. Zorc had kept one eye fixed on him during his time as a lion, until he ultimately signed him.

Carrying the number 33, he has fought his way into Tuchels first team and even cementing his position as a regular starter. He also fought of the more seasoned Gonzalo Castro who joined us from Bayer Leverkusen. Tuchel has praised him numerous times, calling him a wonderful kid who is eager to learn.

At this point you might be asking yourself why we are talking about him and how he’s been doing. TLDR, bloody amazing. Boy has this kid been amazing. His strength have really come to light with him on the pitch. Offensively, his passing has been deadly accurate. In the Bundesliga he has a pass accuracy of 92% and yet internationally he manages to increase that to 93%. At the age of 20 he has managed to have the highest pass accuracy at 93%. At the age of 20 I struggle to get the ball near the goal from 2 feet in front of it. Defensively, he has great positional awareness. He has an eye for the game and know where the opposing team will place a deadly pass, getting in the way and intercepting those, averaging two interceptions a game.

His only weakness from what we’ve seen so far is his lack of physicality. He seems to be fouled a lot and easily dispossessed. Not surprising at 187cm and only a puny 70 kg. The youngster has said that no matter what he ate he just doesn’t put on weight – I wish I had that problem. He’s taken steps to further himself in this department, partnering with Ingo Selbert in hopes to bulk up. The team have been feeding him egg-white shakes, locking him into the weight room after training and using fitness apps to track his progress.

Overall its safe to say that he has managed to become one of Tuchels favorites and key player in his attacking philosophy. As I’ve watched him throughout this first half of the season, I believe that he will be the next Dortmund player to receive a call up to the German national team.

What do you guys think? Has he been playing well? And is he to young to get a call up, or is it not that far fetched of an idea? Let me know in the comments section below, I’d love to strike a conversation.