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Wolfsburg In a sentence

Germany Under-21 force of nature right-back, who, prior to earning himself a recent move from Mainz to Wolfsburg, was rumoured to be on Paris SaintGermain’s watch-list.

What they say

“He has a flair for winning the ball and plays with an explosiveness, able to make things happen with his tremendous acceleration. He has set the bar very high. I always thought he’d make a great pro. He’s a nice lad as well.

He has a 24-hour smile.” Dirk Kunert, Baku’s coach for Mainz’s Under-23s

“He’s made great strides defensively. In one-on-one situations, he’s strong and robust. He has also improved in the attacking phase. He has much more potential to exploit. He’s very much on the right road. He has developed really well and pushed himself to the forefront.” Rouven Schroder, Mainz director of sport

The story so far

The son of Congolese immigrants, he is a 100 per cent “Mainzer” born and bred in the Rhine city. Inherited his love of the game from his father Lutumba, who played locally for amateur side Fontana Finthen. Spotted and recruited by top regional side Mainz at the age of nine, he rose through the ranks with consummate ease, excelling as a full-back, defensive midfielder or in attacking wide areas.

The summer of 2017 was a memorable one for him, promoted to Mainz’s reserve team and handed his first pro contract. Made his senior debut for the club in December 2017, aged 19, in a DFB-Pokal Cup tie against Stuttgart, and marked his Bundesliga bow in April 2018 by scoring in a 3-0 victory over RB Leipzig. He netted again in his second Bundesliga outing, a shock 2-1 win in Dortmund the following month.

After mainly operating as a holding midfielder in his first two campaigns in the German top flight, he was successfully switched to right-back last term by Germany Under-21 boss Stefan Kuntz, and Mainz coach Achim Beierlorzer quickly followed suit.

After representing Germany at every level from U18s to U21s, for whom he made his debut in a friendly with Greece in September 2019, he joined Wolfsburg in October for €10m.

The next step

Wolfsburg have him under contract for the next five years, and will be banking on him staying for at least a couple more. Much will depend on the sort of career momentum he builds up at the Volkswagen Arena. He is an ambitious young man and will be keen to play in the Champions League as soon as possible. Such a goal is a long shot at Wolfsburg.

Strengths

What makes him so special is his pace, energy, dynamism and high levels of endurance. Last season at Mainz, he would regularly record close to three dozen mid-range/long sprints per match. Has an impressive work ethic, putting in extra hours on crossing drills and even employing a personal trainer to sharpen his conditioning.

Weaknesses

Tactically, he is still a work in progress, and a little more composure would not go amiss when challenging for the ball; he can be over impulsive.

“In one-on-one situations, he’s strong and robust. He has also improved in the attacking phase. He has much more potential to exploit” Rouven Schroder, Mainz director of sport