Thursday 8 March 2018 14:02, UK
Max Meyer has rejected a new contract at Schalke and will be a free agent in the summer. The midfielder, impressing in a new role, has been linked with Arsenal, Tottenham and Liverpool but would he thrive in the Premier League? WhoScored take a closer look.
The production line of young talent at Schalke has been remarkable in recent years, churning out future German internationals on a seemingly yearly basis.
Mesut Ozil arrived as a 16-year-old in 2005, joining Manuel Neuer and Benedikt Howedes in the youth ranks in Gelsenkirchen, before leaving for Werder Bremen three years later. At that time Julian Draxler was promoted to the U17s, and more recently Leon Goretzka and Max Meyer have made the step up to the first team.
But Goretzka has already agreed to join Bayern in the summer, while Meyer has rejected the offer of a new contract and would be available on a free transfer come June. German media have linked the 22-year-old with a move to Arsenal, while the British press have credited Liverpool and Tottenham with interest.
The fact that the diminutive youngster is still quite so young may surprise some, having been on the scene and a first-team regular for almost five years. In that sense, Meyer is a player who has not yet really lived up to his immense early potential.
After all, his first senior international cap came at the age of just 18 and before he had even turned out for the U21s, highlighting the regard in which he was held as a teenager. His path has not run particularly smooth at Schalke though; despite starting 21 of 30 league appearances way back in 2013/14, he has never quite convinced that he should be considered a mainstay in the starting XI.
Last season was one in which Meyer really struggled to make an impact. Under the tutelage of Markus Weinzierl, of whom big things were expected having been earmarked as one of Germany's top young coaches, things did not go as planned for the club nor Meyer.
He started just 18 times in the Bundesliga - the fewest since breaking into the first team five years ago - with eight of those starts coming as a centre-forward. Having garnered his reputation as a technical and skilful No 10, the role did not suit him and Meyer ended the campaign with just a single goal and assist.
A meagre WhoScored.com rating of 6.54 was comfortably the lowest in his career, never having reached the heights of his debut season as a first-team regular, with a score of 7.09.
His attacking stats this season might suggest he has regressed further, but instead the former playmaker's role in the side has taken a dramatic turn under Domenico Tedesco, who has fared significantly better than his predecessor.
Perhaps noticing that Meyer hadn't developed in the way many had predicted, the 32-year-old rookie coach saw something in the German's ability to retain possession that encouraged a complete re-imagining of his responsibilities.
It's in a new position as a holding midfielder that the youngster has re-emerged from the shadows and subsequently attracted the reported interest of Arsenal and Tottenham. Stepping into the shoes of Johannes Geis, who was curiously allowed to join Sevilla on loan, Meyer has profited from injury and disciplinary problems elsewhere in the ranks to begin to pull the strings from a deeper position.
Even in advanced areas his quality in possession has always been clear to see, but now deployed further back he can make things tick for a side with aspirations of a Champions League return. A pass accuracy of 89.5 per cent is comfortably the best in the Schalke squad and enough to rank seventh in the entire Bundesliga.
The teenager that broke onto the picture as an agile dribbler, completing three per game in 2013/14, is now a completely different player, averaging just 0.6 this season and instead letting the ball doing the work.
As one might expect, his defensive figures have improved markedly in his new role, with averages for tackles (1.9) and interceptions (2.6) per game both more than double what he has achieved in any other league season. In fact, against the odds the S04 graduate has become one of the league's top ball-winners in the middle ground, with only veteran Augsburg midfielder Daniel Baier regaining possession in the midfield third more times (104) than Meyer (96).
In that regard he is one place ahead of Liverpool-bound Naby Keita (87), who has been lauded among the very best in the business when it comes to his ability to affect matches with and without the ball. Meyer has been a very different style of player this season, far more reserved in terms of breaking forwards himself, instead looking to hold his position and protect the defence.
Links to the Emirates certainly make sense, with the club crying out for some discipline in that area, but it's still early days for the rejuvenated midfield in this new guise. His reputation has fallen in recent years, of that there is no doubt, but the signs are encouraging that Meyer has found a new lease of life under the right guidance, which is crucial.
He might not be the superstar that many were expecting to flourish five years ago, but on a free transfer, his progress this season suggests that the German could still prove a coup for the right club.
