We definitely need a replacement though and that's going to be hard. Schick's purple patch won't last forever and we've seen how he struggles against defensive teams, whereas Boni seemed to always find a way to shoot. I suspect also Rolfes sensed this could happen and that's why Stepanov didn't left

So as I was saying... 😢

oh ok thanks for the clarification! I misunderstood then. I expect Stepanov to make the bench again at least. Hawighorst I suppose it depends on Mukiele and also I have a feeling Xabi may prefer Natali this time

On Saturday, Ben Hawighorst will be 16 years 8 months 29 days old. Next Bundesliga game against St. Pauli he would be 16-9-6d, 3 days older than Sertdemir was. So he has a chance to make history if he debuts against Union. Hopefully he makes the team at least

Next Saturday against Union Berlin will be the last chance that Ben Hawighorst will get to be youngest #Bayer04 player ever in the Bundesliga. The record belongs to Zidan Sertdemir, who was 16 years 9 months and 3 days when he debuted against Hertha in November 21

Eventually he'd injure himself with the bubble wrap though.... and therein lies the problem

In all competitions, Stepanov is the 5th youngest player ever, behind Izekor, Sertdemir, Bravo and Wirtz. If Hawighorst makes his debut before the end of the year, he would be the 2nd youngest ever.

He won't go anywhere until 2026 though...

phase of the Youth League? And the next game is against Inter, who are first in the Youth League, and this question should probably rise again #Bayer04

attack. So should the U19 give up their three best payers to the first team, where they would probably get 5 minutes at best because Xabi would rather player Andrich as striker? Or should they stay with the U19 and try to gain a good result against Salzburg to try and secure a place in the next

good results in their remaining two games (in the Youth League they only play 6 games instead of 8). Salzburg are flying in the YL, are currently second and have a strong team so the #Bayer04U19 needs a strong showing to get a result. Without the aforementioned trio, they'd be severely weakened in

Tella, Andrich and and a half-fit Mukiele. There would be at least 3 places open for youngsters on the bench, which we assume could go for Onyeka, Stepanov and Alajbegovic. However, the U19 are fighting for their lives in the Youth League, and have a very good chance of qualifying. But they need