A new striker at last? Meet Germany’s teenage center-forward prospect

Germany have a striker problem. This year’s World Cup debacle proved that without a striker the DFB have no hope of being a competitive national team in the near future. While Niclas Fullkrug is pretty good, Hansi Flick barely used him in this cycle and he will be 33-years-old when the next World Cup rolls around, while other prospects like Kai Havertz and Youssoufa Moukoko are not true target men. The lack of someone like Miroslav Klose since 2014 has strongly reflected in the national team’s underperformance at tournaments.

So what’s the solution? Bild might have spotted one. According to their report (via @iMiaSanMia, it seems to be from their print edition), Eintracht Frankfurt youth striker Anas Alaoui is a serious hope for Germany at the striker position in the future. Already 187cm tall at just 16, he has sixteen goals in nine U-17 Bundesliga games. Alaoui has also made appearances for the Eagles in the UEFA Youth League this season, notching 1 goal and 1 assist in 213 minutes (per transfermarkt).

At 16, Euro 2024 would be too early for him to make an impact, but there’s a chance that he could come into his own by the next World Cup. However, we’ve all heard this story before. Every few years there’s a new talent in the youth leagues that is touted as the next big thing, and few of them rarely make it to the top. For now, Alaoui is just another prospect in his age group — there’s no guarantee that he will develop into the player that he’s promised to become.

Alaoui is also eligible to represent Morocco, so there’s a chance he might not even play for the German national team. Let’s remember that Bayern Munich striker Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting was also born in Germany, but represents Cameroon at the international level — imagine if Flick could’ve had him at WC2022.

For now, Germany will probably want to put their hopes on proven young talent, like Jamal Musiala and the like. If there is glory to be had in the future, they will be the ones to bring it home.