Reports: Sertdemir earns permanent roster spot, Stuttgart and Hertha interested in another Danish phenom
In the same week that new Bayer 04 Leverkusen trainer Gerardo Seoane announced that one ultra-young Danish phenom will be receiving a permanent first-team roster spot, word emerges that at least two German Bundesliga sides are currently hunting another.
Football lovers may be getting increasingly used to seeing young teenagers make their professional debuts at the age of 17 and even 16 years of age, but true "phenom alerts" never fail to excite. It already appears that one such prospect from Germany's northern neighbors will make such an early entrance this season.
Germany's red company team did not hesitate to shell out a reported €2.5 million for 16-year-old Zidan Sertdemir of the FC Nordsjælland juniors this summer. Even though the plan was to carefully ease the youngster into the first team gradually, new head coach Gerardo Seoane told Germany's Bild Zeitung this week that he planned to keep him on standby on the first team roster.
"Zidan will always train with us," Seoane confirmed, noting that he still didn't wish to incorporate the youngster into "every last drill". The move nevertheless counts as significant and strongly suggests a debut during the Hin-Runde.
Meanwhile, transfermarkt's German website and Denmark's Tipsbladet currently link VfB Stuttgart and Hertha BSC with 18-year-old striker Wahid Faghir of Danish first division side Vejle Boldklub. Even at such a young age, the teenager is rumored to command a transfer fee similar to that of Sertdemir; €2.5-€3 million.
Both the Danish and German news sources also link the scorer of nine goals in his brief professional career with top clubs in Spain, Italy, and England.