Under-the-Radar All Stars: Profiling Belgian Starlet Maxime Lestienne

In the coming weeks, I’ll be profiling some of world football’s more overlooked players in a series called the Under-the-Radar All Stars. Some will be names you’ve heard of, but may not yet fully grasp how great they are, while others may be totally unfamiliar. Established star or up-and-comer, each Under-the-Radar All Star has been unassumingly building a strong career and the hope is that this series brings some of football’s underrated players into view.

Though his summer transfer wasn't a blockbuster move, Maxime Lestienne will be taking his talents to Genoa and the Serie A, where he looks to stake his claim as the next star of Belgium's Golden Generation. 

Capped at every Belgian youth level, the 22-year-old is yet to earn his first senior cap. Even with the elite talent in front of him, it shouldn't be long before Lestienne breaks into Marc Wilmots' team, giving the Red Devils yet another exceptionally talented youngster. 

Lestienne is a product of the now defunct Mouscron academy and debuted for the senior team in 2008. He signed with Club Brugge in 2010 and, per Transfermarkt.com, has proceeded to register 30 goals and 26 assists in 110 appearances for the Belgian giants. 

A left-footed player, Lestienne has predominantly featured as a traditional winger for Michel Preud'homme's side. 

He exhibits tremendous control and composure on the ball, displaying his eye for the killer pass on numerous occasions last season. Because he dribbles like the ball is on a string, Lestienne draws a ton of fouls, an innate and useful talent. 

He's a one-man counter, capable of carrying the ball swiftly up the pitch before finding a teammate.

Lestienne is great in tight spaces and has a penchant for catching the opposition unaware with a dink over the top or a defense-beating, flighted cross to the back post. The winger isn't over-infatuated with panache and step-overs and is a very direct player, always looking to run at a marker or play an incisive forward pass. 

Per Football Italia, his rights were purchased by Qatari outfit Al-Arabi before he was immediately loaned to Serie A side Genoa. With the Rossoblu, Lestienne has a massive opportunity to prove his talent in one of Europe's top leagues. 

Gian Piero Gasperini's side labored to a 14th-place finish last season, managing just 41 goals in 38 league matches. With obvious room for offensive improvement, Lestienne should have the opportunity to stamp his place in the starting XI. 

Gasperini favors a three-centre-back system and, per WhoScored.com, utilized multiple permutations last term including the 3-4-3, 3-5-2 and 3-4-2-1. 

Because the 3-5-2 calls for two centre-forwards and two wing-backs, Lestienne's favored winger role is absent, and therefore it'd be difficult for the young Belgian to fit into that particular formation.

The good news is that the 3-4-3 and 3-4-2-1 both have positions in which Lestienne can excel.

Fielding him on the left flank most closely parallels the role he occupied with Club Brugge, while his playing style also makes him a fit on the right. 

Though Lestienne will always look to play in a teammate, he has an eye for goal himself, as evidenced by his 10 strikes last season. More shooting lanes are open to a left-footed player who attacks from the right, and that should bolster his already impressive scoring rate. 

He orchestrated the Club Brugge offense, and Gasperini should give the agile Belgian free reign, as it's when he picks up possession and explodes forward that he's at his most dangerous. 

Entering the 2014-15 campaign, Lestienne could immediately replace Giuseppe Sculli, who returned to parent club Lazio on the left wing. Former Sevilla winger Diego Perotti, another new Genoa signing, should slot in on the right, transforming Genoa's wing duo and giving the Rossoblu a massive upgrade on both flanks. 

In terms of who Lestienne compares to, the player himself likened his playing style to that of Arjen Robben, according to a report by Football Italia.

That comparison isn't too far afield, with the biggest differences being the Belgian is pass-first where the Dutch star is shoot-first, though Robben's positioning on the right flank encourages his trigger-happiness. 

Other than that, Lestienne's directness is very akin to Robben, who too won't string together a series of step-overs simply for effect, while both are singular counters and adept set-piece practitioners.

Left-footed, technically excellent with brilliant acceleration, Lestienne's best-case ceiling is Robben, whereas Dries Mertens, another player who Lestienne commented on, represents a more realistic comparison. 

Over the past few years, Serie A has seen a number of wingers with world-class potential announce themselves on the European stage. Erik Lamela, Juan Manuel Iturbe, Domenico Berardi and Stephan El Shaarawy are just a few, and it may not be long before we add Maxime Lestienne to that list of young superstars. 

Previously: 

Roberto Firmino, Hoffenheim's Engine

Ricardo Rodriguez, Swiss Savant