Kevin Kampl

I know that majority of you has never even heard for this guy. But I fell in love with him the first time I saw him playing (2011).

Kevin was born in Germany to Slovenian parents. He rejected German youth NT twice, hoping he will be called up by Slovenia. He is youth product of Bayer Leverkusen and he couldn't have gotten into first XI (Ballack, Bender, Vidal, Barrneta, Renato Augusto... ), so he left for German 3rd tier. Next season to 2nd tier, where he had an impressive start and was sold to Salzburg for €3m after only 4 games. He quickly became key player there.

He is currently playing as a CM (can also play as a DM, RW, LW, CAM and FW) at Salzburg. He is fast, unpredictable player with high defensive and attacking work (and with a terrible haircut). He is great in attack and he is not bad in defense. He is best at dribbling and at (key) passing, while his biggest downsides are finishing and long shots. Until this season, he's scored 6 (and assisted 3) at 8 Bundesliga games so far this season. He also assisted both goals vs Fenerbahçe in UCL qualifications and 1 goal + 1 assist in UEL play-off.

Salzburg reportedly turned down €8m offer from Galatasaray for Kampl this summer, so Gala signed Bruma instead. Kampl is already key player in Slovenian NT at 22 years old - after only 7 caps, so that should tell you how quickly can he adapt. Here are some highlights:

Video of him just this season so far 25 matches, 9 goals and 14 assists. Not bad for a midfielder?
He has outgrown Austrian league by far and big clubs are lining up fo him.

Was very decent yesterday, so good on the ball.

He was great for Salzburg (caught my attention when Dinamo played them last year in CL qualifiers) as is now with Bayer.

Good on the ball, fast and tenacious. Quick tempo in Bundesliga suits him well.

Terrific talent, caught my eye against Suisse in Euro qualifications

Strange that he didn't adapt to Dortmund as he was quickly reunited with his Salzburg coach and youth club at Leverkusen in 6 months

They are an excellent & young team