Bundesliga Prospect | Nelson Weiper – The latest talent from Mainz’ incredible academy | OneFootball

The new Bundesliga season brings new opportunities for young players to not only get minutes but also have a breakthrough season. At Get German Football News, we have provided a list of five players to look out for over this coming season with he first being Mainz striker Nelson Weiper.

Mainz have one of the best academies in Germany, which can be seen with their youth team progressing deep into the Youth League last season. It is easy for players to progress through the ranks into the first team with Jonathan Burkardt the current poster boy, while Finn Dahmen (Augsburg) and Paul Nebel (two years on loan at Karlsruhe) also coming through a Bruchweg.

However, there have been two players who have recently caught the spotlight at Mainz. Brajan Gruda and Nelson Weiper. Last season was Gruda’s breakout season as he was a bright spark in a poor Mainz side that survived relegation with a remarkable turnaround in the second half of the season, with the 20-year-old at the centre of it. This resulted in Gruda’s move to Brighton this summer.

Weiper’s season was much different.

At the end of the 2022/23 season, the striker was used in a handful of games for Mainz scoring twice in nine appearances against Borussia Mönchengladbach and Werder Bremen. This set the 19-year-old up for a breakout year in the 23/24 season like his long-time teammate Gruda. Unfortunately for Weiper, he missed basically the whole season with a meniscus injury

This season though, the story can be different. Head coach Bo Henrikson showed his trust in youth when playing Gruda and if the Dane shows the same faith in Weiper then he will likely be repaid to the same degree. For Mainz as well it will show the quality of their academy that they can field a front three all coming through at Bruchweg.

GGFN | Jack Meenan