In Assan Ouédraogo Schalke have Germany's next wunderkind. But how long will he stay?
The Royal Blues can lay claim to one of Germany's most exciting young prospects. But the club are already fighting hard to keep a hold of the young talent.
In what has been a disappointing season for Schalke in the 2. Bundesliga, teenager Assan Ouédraogo has been one of the few bright spots. When talking to industry sources, Ouédraoga was identified as one of the brightest talents in German football. One source described the 17-year-old central midfielder as Schalke’s biggest talent since a certain Leroy Sané took Gelsenkirchen and the Bundesliga by storm.
A key player of the U17 German national team that won the European Championships last spring, Ouédraogo has featured in all eight of Schalke’s 2. Bundesliga games this season and scored one goal. Capable of playing as a winger and at the center of the park, the son of former Köln, Oberhausen, TuS Koblenz, and Rot Weiss Essen midfielder/full-back Alassane Ouédraogo, Assan has shown an incredible ability to play in whatever role head coach Thomas Reis has asked of him.
That trust in the teenager doesn’t seem to have changed even after Schalke fired Reis last week. Under interim head coach Matthias Kreutzer, Ouédraogo started in midfield and played 65 minutes in his club’s 3-1 defeat to Paderborn on Friday.
Although Schalke lost, Ouédraogo completed 86% of his passes, 50% of his dribbles, and won 50% of his duels. Keep in mind that those are numbers put together by a 17 year-old playing his first professional season for a club still trying to find its footing in the second division.
Ouédraogo, in fact, is tenth in the 2. Bundesliga with 39 total dribbles and sixth with 64.1% successful dribbles this season. The ability to go and take on defenders one-v-one and rush from a relatively central position in the pitch has convinced many in German football that Ouédraogo is the real deal.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to The Gegenpressing Newsletter to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.