Donis Avdijaj Scout Report – A Liverpool Target With £41million Release Clause

There’s no wonder why the German National Team deservedly succeeded in laying their hands on the gleaming World Cup trophy after you bat an eye at the amount of young talent coming through the ranks in the Bundesliga. Max Meyer, Max Kruse, Paddy Herrmann, Kevin Volland, Antonio Rudiger and Christoph Kramer are the latest ones to burst into the famed National selection fray but there’s no evident shortage of such players in the late teens.

With the gargantuan amount of adroitness and talent coming through, it seems Germany have a bright future ahead of them, in footballing terms. Almost every single Bundesliga side these days has an emerging teenager climbing up the ladder of selection to set the world ablaze with his nous. One such player who has, although chosen to play for Albania ahead of Germany, is 18 year old Schalke forward Donis Avdijaj. Top premier league clubs like Liverpool are keeping tabs on the youngster but Schalke had injected a 41 million release clause fend off any outside interest for their rising star.

Career so Far..

Born in  Osnabrück in Germany, Avdijaj began his career at Schalke and has a tremendous goal scoring reputation attached to his name. He has, so far, featured 17 times for the Schalke U-19 side(2013-14 season) and has racked up an impressive tally of 17 goals, which is of course impressive. The 2013-14 season was a breakout season for the youngster and although, he still awaits a first team place, he emerged as a transfer target for Liverpool, Inter Milan and Juventus when he was just 16. He’s yet to sign a senior contract with Schalke but an opportunity can well be sensed.

Strengths

One quality which stands out is his unblemished dead ball skills. They can come in very handy from free kicks at the edge of the box and this guy has got the vision to find the net with the help of exemplary curling and shooting abilities.

His somewhat small frame allows him to sneak in behind defenses such that the opposition centre halves hardly sense somebody there. He hides behind defenders and pounces onto opportunities just like a dying man will do anything to save himself when the world is about to end. He’s that perfect Fox in the box customer who has got a well placed right footed shot up his sleeve, everytime he gets around a yard of space around the box.

Despite of his small frame, he can hold off players to hold onto the ball efficiently. A tidy finisher, Avdijaj won’t delve himself into the play but he can finish off moves in a few blinks of an eye. In a fast paced, open attacking move, this guy knows how to find spaces for himself to receive the ball and lay it off or finish it. And the complimentary part is, he’s good in the air too. He’s  got that killer instinct to jump onto opportunities as if he won’t get any after them and this is what makes him a youngster to look out for.

Weaknesses

A calm and composed finisher, Avdijaj hasn’t been able to translate  that cool as a cucumber attitude in his passing. He can be wayward in his passing with his back towards the goal and maybe, that’s a reason why he is reluctant to join the play. His playing style has drawn comparisons to fellow Schalke striker Klaas Jan Huntelaar’s but here’s where he gets a back seat in the new Roberto Di Matteo band wagon.

Future?

Although, it’s quite undoubted that Donis Avdijaj has got a bright future ahead of him and but looking at how the football landscape is changing in terms of playing style, his future turns even brighter. He would fit into a side where stress is laid on the counter attacking sector of the game rather than a pressing game. And Spain’s 5-1 thrashing at the hands of Netherlands signaled the advent of the downfall of the tiki taka style of playing the game.

Moving to England could be detrimental for Avdijaj, because of some reasons mentioned in another piece of mine. That bottleneck age stagnates the development of such players, hardly allowing them a first team run out as evident in Adnan Januzaj’s case.

Staying where he is makes sense and Schalke are a club who can provide a platform for him to furnish his qualities and amend his weaknesses. They’ve got a knack for dragging into the fore formerly unknown players with the current examples of Max Meyer, Julian Draxler and Joel Matip and past examples of Mesut Ozil and Manuel Neuer.