A Chance For Revenge For Holstein Kiel’s Bayern Cast-Off | OneFootball

Bundesliga new boys Holstein Kiel have struggled to assert themselves and are in seventeenth place. Still, Marcel Rapp’s side added to the roster over the winter break and are starting to show they mean to be more than a Bundesliga one-hit-wonder.

Missing out on the second-tier title by just one point, the 1912 Champions went into the season having invested only €7m in the summer. Midfielder Magnus Knudsen from Russian side Rostov was the only major signing.

Despite losing twelve players, including super Germany U21 centre-back talent Tom Rothe, midfielder Philipp Sander has been a highly effective addition at ‘Gladbach, playing in seventeen of the club’s games this season.

These were joined by Poland international left-back Tymoteusz Puchacz, who left Kiel for Plymouth Argyle earlier this month.

In the January window, the Storks Sporting director Carsten Wehnmann recognized the need to shore up a side that conceded 48 goals in the first half of the season.

Centre-back Ivan Nekić has been brought in from Slovak side NK Varaždin, left-back John Tolkien has been acquired from New York Red Bulls, and centre-back David Zec has arrived from 23/24 Slovenian champions NK Celje.

The additions to the side are starting to have an impact. The Storks are on a roll and have been particularly impressive in recent matches, especially in their 4-2 win over BVB and 5-1 win against twelfth-placed Augsburg.

Supported by one of the most committed and loyal fan scenes, albeit one with a history of overflowing into conflict, Germany’s most Northern top-tier club has gained seven points in the last five games.

If their progression continues, Holstein will show the much-needed metal needed to survive the fierce relegation battle this season.

On Saturday, Kiel travels to the Allianz Arena, a match that is a date with destiny for one former Bayern player who is among Holstein’s most promising.

Holstein Kiel scored the second most goals in 23/24 with 65. Going into their virgin Bundesliga season, Holstein could count on a striker who has been regarded as a German talent of a generation, former U19 international centre-forward Jann-Fiete Arp.

The Bad-Segeburg-born player, who finished as the second-best striker at the FIFA U17 World Cup in 2017, has more than shown his value at youth level. Scoring over 200 goals from U14 to U19 levels is an impressive achievement that ranks him among the best in German football history at that level.

In the 2016-17 season alone, Arp scored 25 goals in 44 appearances. That was enough to earn a professional contract with Hamburger SV at just 17.

In 2018, the then eighteen-year-old super talent transferred for an incredible, for a German player of his age, €4m to Bayern Munich.

Then, Munich manager Robert Kovac, who signed a contract that takes him to 2026 with BVB this week, shared his vision for the youngster to become the ‘heir apparent’ to Robert Lewandowski.

The 1.86m striker, however, completely went under at the Allianz Arena. Arp did not earn a single call-up to Der Rekordmeister‘s first team.

The towering 1.88-m striker with impressive athleticism and physical presence was swiftly moved to the U23s in the third tier. Two seasons with the U23s followed, but despite the side winning the fourth-tier title in the Bayern region and promotion, just eight goals in 43 games were Arp’s contribution.

Despite his 17 goals in 18 games at the U17 level, Arp dropped off the radar of Hanno Baltisch, the U19 Germany coach, and has not been called up at a higher level either since.

In 2021, the young striker’s talent was unceremoniously dumped by the 32-time champions at Holstein Kiel. What’s more, for a fee more akin to a non-league player of just €50,000 – a massive fall for a talented Kicker Sportmagazin dubbed the third best striker at the U17 2017 FIFA World Cup: a “new Gerd Müller.”

Since returning to his home state of Schleswig-Holstein, things have looked up. The North German has made 63 appearances with the 2019 Pokal semi-finalists.

Despite some impressive performances, predominantly in the second line, only three goals have paid off for the club between May 21 and August 23.

Last season, the North German striker finally got into his groove and started to look like the player he had long expected to be. Despite an injury that kept him out of the side for eight weeks, he scored nine goals in the league and one in the DFB Pokal. Most impressively, Arp showed his class with a brace in the ‘Nord derby‘ against Hannover 96.

Jan Fiete is now starting to have the air of predecessor Marvin Duksch, who scored 23 goals for ‘Die Störche‘ and led the striker to follow the Werder Bremen striker to the senior national team, a trajectory the twenty-three-year-old if he can find consistent form, has the talent to follow.

A new two-year contract was the result of the strong partnership that has developed with Benedikt Pichler, who bagged eight goals in 23/24.

The player, who wears Kiel’s number 20 shirt, is now valued again at €1m, despite a four-week injury layoff, picked up two goals so far this season, including a screaming long-range shot in the side’s morale-boosting thrashing of 8-time champions BVB, is once more a player to watch.

Suppose the 25-year-old can stay free of injury. In that case, a strong partnership alongside Benedikt Pichler, who bagged eight goals and led Holstein in 23/24, can develop into a real striking asset for Holstein and Julian Nagelsman’s side in the long term.

Unlike in the past, when the centre-forward position was one of Germany’s most hotly contested, the only consistent centre-forward in recent years has been Thomas Müller. He has notched up 49 goals, with Mario Gomez and his 32 goals a distant second.

The underperforming DFB team has tried out Timo Werner, Sandro Wagner, Niels Petersen, Kevin Volland, Deniz Undav, Marvin Ducksch, Niclas Füllkrug and more recently Tim Kleindienst to fill the crucial attacking position.

To date, the group of players has scored only thirty-three goals cumulatively, with Timo Werner scoring more than half of those.

Offensive midfielder Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz, who has scored 25 goals for the 23/24 champions, is evolving into a player of a generation.

Only Jamal Musiala, with 16 goals, Jonathan Burkhardt of Mainz, with 13, and Tim Kleindienst of Gladbach, with 11, are among the league’s top strikers eligible for the German national team.

With Bayern’s Thomas Müller retiring after the European championships in July, the lack of an out-and-out striker will continue to hamper progress for the four-time World Champions.

Jann-Fiete Arp is a player the young national team coach, who recently renewed his contract until 2028, will be keeping an eye out for.

For now, a date with destiny awaits against former club Bayern. One North German centre-forward definitely has a point to prove in the heart of Bavaria tomorrow.