5 Candidates to Be the Bundesliga's Next Big Star

With Germany's latest defeat to Poland on Saturday taking full effect in the German press and throughout the nation's football leagues, the quest to find the next big star within the Bundesliga could potentially never be more important. 

Although the German top division is undoubtedly one of the top throughout Europe, it's reputation for nurturing young talent truly precedes it and puts others such as the English Premier League to shame. No top league has as many young players playing first team football and starring for their own respective sides. 

As such hot prospects, young prodigies and potential world-class players are never too far off within the Bundesliga. 

Here are five players who could possibly be the next big star in German football. 

Hakan Calhanoglu

Michael Probst/Associated Press

It seems so long ago that 20-year-old Hakan Calhanoglu was a frustrated, underrated youth player at Hamburg. At the troubled club he lacked game time, success and ultimately the vision and coaching to take him on as a player. 

Fortunately, the young Turkish international made the wise move to Bayer Leverkusen this summer and has since become a firm favourite under new manager Roger Schmidt. 

With the Factory Squad and their new committed ethos on attacking football, the Bundesliga has seen the best of Calhanoglu and the true promise he offers to the league in the years to come. This player is undoubtedly Leverkusen's next big star and he could well be the league's next big thing, too.  

Pierre Hojbjerg

Matthias Schrader/Associated Press

Next in our list today is Bayern Munich's own young prodigy Pierre Hojbjerg. A 19-year-old Danish, central midfielder and undoubtedly one of the brightest young talents in Germany today. 

Although Hojbjerg has yet to really break into the Bayern squad and hold down a first-team spot, his chance may yet come this season with the continuous injuries to Pep Guardiola's regular central midfielders. 

The fact that he draws notable comparisons to Bastian Schweinsteiger in both his technical and physical ability to control a midfield should also help put his point across in the coming months. 

If Bayern need another central midfielder, this young player is desperate to prove his worth. 

Karim Bellarabi

Alik Keplicz/Associated Press

As the second Leverkusen player on our list, Karim Bellarabi joins this company of young players with perhaps the most to offer in the immediate term of this season. 

Most would have seen the 24-year-old in action in Warsaw on Saturday night, when Poland overcame Germany by two goals to nil. Yet despite the result Bellarabi was one of the standalone stars for Joachim Low's side. 

Such a match offers the perfect example of just how much the Berlin-born star has come in the past 12 months. From relegation fodder with Eintracht Braunschweig last season, Bellarabi has surprised us all with his wonderful start to the season with both his club and country. Who knows where he'll be this time next year. 

Abdul Rahman Baba

Martin Meissner/Associated Press

Perhaps the longest shot on this list, but Abdul Rahman Baba—or "Baba Rahman" as he is known in Germany—has quickly confirmed himself as a wonderful new signing for Augsburg this season and possibly the next big star in the Bundesliga. 

Picked up from Greuther Furth in the summer, Rahmann is an attacking left-back with all the technique and skill to succeed at this level. With two assists in the league already this season (via Whoscored) he looks set to rack up plenty more between now and May. 

Following in the footsteps of David Alaba and Ricardo Rodriguez, this Ghanaian defender looks set to become the next top full-back and perhaps the most sought-after player in the next transfer window. 

Christoph Kramer

Alik Keplicz/Associated Press

Last but certainly not least, we have Borussia Moenchengladbach's central midfield dynamo Christoph Kramer; the German national team's latest recruit and possibly the next big star in the Bundesliga. 

Again, like Bellarabi, we saw Kramer in action against Poland although such a performance was far from becoming of a player who has truly grown into his role at the Foals in the last 12 months. 

Lucien Favre's teams are famous for their ability to nurture talent—Dante, Marco Reus and Roman Neustadter to name but a few—and Kramer looks like the next player to take the step up and demand the attention of Germany's largest clubs. 

Where his talents will take him is anyone's guess but if Low's confidence in him is anything to go by, then we could be looking at a potentially world-class player.