Leipzig. His name is Sidney Raebiger. Born on March 17th, 2005 and at the age of 15 the top talent in the bull stable. The central midfielder is currently training at RB Leipzig’s professionals under Julian Nagelsmann. He praises the very young man in the highest tones. “He’s a great talent. In terms of physicality and athleticism, he will still need time. But he has a great gift and a lot of potential, ”said the coach of the current Bundesliga runner-up.
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The fact that Raebiger is currently on the pitch with Emil Forsberg, Dayot Upamecano and Dani Olmo is thanks to the corona pandemic, as paradoxical as it sounds. “Basically, all youth games do not take place,” says Nagelsmann. “It is of course a more ideal time to test players like Sidney. Especially now in the weeks when we can train normally. “
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CLICK THROUGH: These RB talents made the leap
Alexander Sorge: Born in 1993; currently Türkgücü Munich.
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The fact that there is this special kicker in the Red Bulls’ junior performance center has long since got around to the big players in the industry. Even in the U13, there was a rumor that FC Barcelona was interested in the top talent. As a rule, rumors of this kind come to the public in the very young years of the players more about the private environment of the children and are often more wishful thinking than reality. The U16 international is still at RB Leipzig, although there have been repeated and frequent thoughts of emigration.
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The persistence and continuity of playing at Cottaweg since 2017 now seems to be paying off. The rather petite playmaker from central Saxony was only allowed to officially sign his first youth development contract last summer. RB took care of the exceptional talent in advance of the contract and let Raebiger train and play with older players at an early stage. Officially, the kicker is part of the U17 squad of coach Tim Krömer.
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The units under Julian Nagelsmann are now the next highlight. He earned it through his own performance. “He’s a really good guy, who listens, who wants to improve, who knows him as well as I do, and who has his heart in the right place,” said the RB coach about the 15-year-old. “He only gets top reviews for his behavior in the boarding school. Then a player like that deserves to train with us. He’s a great talent. We have a lot of confidence in him in the future. ”How that looks exactly is decided primarily by Raebiger himself, says Nagelsmann. “Of course he’s still very young. At the end of the day it is up to him what he makes of his potential and how he wants to continue on the path towards professional football or not. “
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Borussia Dortmund’s Youssoufa Moukoko recently demonstrated impressively that even very young kickers can successfully make their way to the “big ones”. Lionel Messi was only 13 years old when a youth coach at FC Barcelona discovered him and was reportedly so enthusiastic about the Argentine that he had him sign a contract on a napkin. The example of Sinan Kurt shows that a lot of talent and potential alone are no guarantee for a great career. He went through all the U-national teams of the DFB, switched from Borussia Mönchengladbach to Bayern Munich in the junior division, but never made the leap to the pros there. After more than a year without a club, the 24-year-old is now playing in the Regionalliga West at SV Straelen. There are plenty of similar cases, even at RB itself. Marcel Becher (23) is now playing at FC Lößnitz in the Sachsenliga. When he was 15, he moved from FC Erzgebirge Aue to Cottaweg. Felix Beiersdorf (22) now plays for LSV Südwest in the national class.
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It should be different with and for Sidney Raebiger. Aside from the effects of the corona pandemic, Julian Nagelsmann is likely to take him under his wing so early. Because the 15-year-old will not end that soon with the professionals. “He will stay with us for the time being,” clarifies the RB coach. “As long as we train normally and we can evaluate, appraise and develop it, we will do that to the best of our knowledge and belief.”
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