Dortmund’s Maximilian Philipp may be the Bundesliga’s signing of the season

Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but there’s a dirty-blonde forward scoring like crazy for Borussia Dortmund.

No, Marco Reus isn’t back from injury yet. But you wouldn’t be blamed for mistaking Maximilian Philipp for BVB’s oft-injured winger.

With all the big-money transfers that happened in Europe this summer, Dortmund’s signing of Philipp went under the radar. He only cost €20 million from SC Freiburg, but his value has already skyrocketed well above that. In fact, he is proving to be an absolute bargain.

In five Bundesliga starts Philipp has already tallied 4 goals and 1 assist. He has gelled perfectly with the rest of the squad, provided another option while Reus continues to recover from injury, and scored some beautiful goals. He has been a massive part of Dortmund’s tremendous start to the season.

And here’s the kicker...he’s only 23-years-old.

Sometimes it’s easy for Dortmund fans to take young talent for granted, because, well, they always have so much of it. But Philipp shouldn’t be taken for granted.

Obviously he is not a talent that was created by BVB, but he almost seems like a Football Manager re-gen that was created for the club based on the image and skill of Reus. Max is also quick, aggressive, and incredibly skillful with the ball at his feet.

But don’t take it from me, just re-watch some of the impressive goals he’s already scored in this young season.

Yes, Koln are pretty bad this year, but that’s a tough finish to make no matter who the opponent is. The goalie has cut down the angle quite well, but Max is confident enough in his finishing skill to dink it over the keeper and immediately start running away for his celebration.

You can’t teach confidence, and you also can’t teach a player to be tall.

Andriy Yarmolenko played a big part in his first goal from that Koln game, but someone still had to finish it off. At 6 feet tall, Philipp is also capable of finishing off a cross with a well-taken header like that.

But the goal he scored in this past weekend’s demolition of Monchengladbach is my favorite of the bunch.

The lack of marking from BMG is atrocious, but you won’t see a calmer finish all season. One touch, with a little bit of a lean to the left, and the ball is in the top corner of the net.

And again he’s celebrating before it’s even a goal! That’s a clear sign of an attacker who is in scintillating form.

It’s early days, and he may not keep this form up all season, but he has already proven himself to be a quality addition. Dortmund always have teams that are exciting and overwhelming in attack, but the depth available this season is on another level.

Peter Bosz has Philipp, Aubameyang, Pulisic, Yarmolenko, Reus, Gotze, Kagawa, Isak and Larsen all at his disposal. That may be as stacked an attacking corps as BVB have had in recent memory. Maybe Andre Schurrle will come back from the dead and join them too. But even if he doesn’t, Dortmund are scary talented in that final third.

And just to really hammer it home...Philipp only cost €20 million!! That is insanely good value in today’s market.

Dortmund can do big things this season in both their domestic and European competitions, and don’t be surprised if Maximilian Philipp continues to be at the center of it.