Transfer speculations about Adeyemi had already picked up speed in mid-October. The plan is for him to wear the Salzburg jersey by the summer, which, given the 15 points scorer in a total of 19 competitive games – including three DFB internationals – may seem out of date. Especially since the father and manager were already at Bayern Munich for talks. His contract runs until 2024, which increases the transfer fee: 30 to 40 million euros in transfer fees are traded, the Bavarians seem to be in the “Pole”.
But also Borussia Dortmund or – traditionally – RB Leipzig are among the interested parties, in England also FC Liverpool with the German starter coach Jürgen Klopp. The next career goal of the lightning-fast striker seems to be the Bundesliga at home, on Wednesday Adeyemi can recommend himself against a representative from the German upper house: On the third match day of the UEFA Champions League, VfL Wolfsburg will visit Wals-Siezenheim.
Entries in the history books
Adeyemi, the son of a Romanian and a Nigerian, has put his stamp on the Salzburg game in a historic way in the previous two games in the premier class at FC Sevilla (1: 1) and at home against OSC Lille (2: 1). The young star took no less than four of the five Salzburg penalties and recently converted two penalties to victory against the French.
The attention of the German national coach Hansi Flick, who had nominated Adeyemi as the first player from the Austrian Bundesliga for the German national team in the post-war period, had already attracted him before that. It is the result of consistent further development within the German association, as Adeyemi is the recipient of the Fritz Walter Medal as the best young player in 2019 and has been U21 European champion since the summer.
Marsch’s criticism spurred Adeyemi
Adeyemi leads the Bundesliga goalscorer list with eight goals, and as expected, the youngster followed in the footsteps of his predecessor Patson Daka, who left Salzburg as top scorer for England to Leicester City in the summer. Its predecessor was a certain Erling Haaland, with whose rise Adeyemis is often compared.
But while the Norwegian force of nature took the entire world of football by storm after a quiet six months in Salzburg, Adeyemi made short appearances with the professionals last season and also paid a hard time. At the end of February, the then coach Jesse Marsch took him off the field before half-time in the 1: 2 against Sturm Graz and then criticized him unusually harshly (“He wasn’t ready, he lost every ball and every duel.”).
The criticism had an effect, and two weeks later there was special praise for him. The youngster picked up speed with six goals and five assists in the league in the spring and took the momentum with him into the new season, in which he is taking the next major development steps under his new coach Matthias Jaissle. It is not for nothing that Adeyemi is among the 20 finalists for the “Golden Boy” election as the best young footballer in the world, carried out by “Tuttosport”.
“I haven’t seen that often”
“You don’t have to be an expert to recognize that he has incredible strengths with his dynamism and speed. I haven’t seen it often in this form, ”said Jaissle of the dpa.
“Karim is still young, but he is ready to keep improving. He is inquisitive. These are good prerequisites for his journey to continue, ”said the 33-year-old. “I would like him to stay like us as a team: humble and humble. He still has a lot of potential that has not yet been exhausted. I trust him to have a great career. “
Unterhaching instead of Bavaria, Salzburg instead of Barcelona
Should Adeyemi switch to Bayern, it would be a return. The left foot played in the youth for the German record champions. But there he was also sorted out for lack of discipline, the separation ultimately motivated him. (“That gave me a ‘push'”).
He gained a foothold in the youth sector at SpVgg Unterhaching in 2012, was taken under the wing of the president and former FC Tirol professional Manfred “Manni” Schwabl and, at the age of 16, committed to a rumored 3.35 million euros from Salzburg at the beginning of 2018. The neighboring “cops” once again outpaced well-known competitors, including FC Chelsea and Bayern.
FC Barcelona later approached Salzburg, but sports director Christoph Freund did not scrape the offered 15 million euros because of the potential of his player. Adeyemi, who like most talents earned his spurs on the farm team in Liefering, extended and developed on and off the field.
He is down-to-earth and determined, most recently after the 2-1 win against Lille, which meant the championship lead: “It’s unbelievable, something nice, but in principle we haven’t won anything,” he said Striker who has been voted “Man of the Match” in both previous CL games.
Jaissle hopes to stay
His current coach Jaissle hopes to win a lot with Adeyemi, at least this season, and thus that his protégé will stay. “I think our dress suits him very well. He still has so much potential, and I hope that he will continue to develop that with us for a while, “said Adeyemis compatriot recently to the” kicker “.
He, too, does not recognize a hint of arrogance. “He definitely makes this impression, which is not a matter of course, a lot is beating down on him right now,” said the 33-year-old about his protégé, who also has to learn “especially in the details”. For example, “individually, I would like him to have more actions in the game,” said Jaissle. On Wednesday, Adeyemi has the next chance to increase his share further.
