A Progress Report on Borussia Dortmund's Mainz Loanee Jonas Hofmann

With all the drama and utter mayhem that have surrounded Borussia Dortmund and Jurgen Klopp this season, it's easy to forget that one of the club's most trusted young talents is in fact on loan at another Bundesliga club. Jonas Hofmann is his name and he's not having much of a better time either. 

The 22-year-old winger has been a talent that many around the Westfalenstadion have been well aware of for a number of years, yet Hofmann didn't catch his big break under Klopp until last season when he found himself often taking up a left- or right-wing position whenever Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang or Marco Reus were unable to make the starting XI. 

A back-up player by definition, Hofmann still made 40 appearances for the club throughout that campaign—including eight showings in the Champions League—with three goals and 10 assists to his name, as Transfermarkt happily point out. 

Yet, despite such an incredible season Hofmann was ultimately forced to reassess where he stood in line at Dortmund, when Klopp brought in Ciro Immobile, Adrian Ramos and then Shinji Kagawa to bolster an already crowded attacking line. Add to that Reus, Aubameyang and an ever-growing in stature Henrikh Mkhitaryan and there simply wasn't any room for the breakthrough star. 

Kerstin Joensson/Associated Press

After a brief chat with the club, following the opening two games of the season which had seen the player pick up just 18 minutes of game time, Hofmann agreed to join Mainz on loan for a season and continue his trade there. 

Such a move didn't prove popular for a fanbase that has always cherished its young players making the transition into the first team, but following two summers of heavy activity in the transfer market it seemed best to keep Hofmann playing first-team football rather than wasting away on the bench. 

Unfortunately poor luck and misguided circumstances seemed to follow the young, German talent and Hofmann has been dogged by injuries that would have—almost ironically—allowed him to fit right in with the current Dortmund squad. 

In what will undoubtedly be described as a frustrating year for Hofmann, the winger has only managed to make it onto the pitch for Mainz on nine separate occasions in this season's Bundesliga, as well as a solitary appearance in the DFB Pokal. 

However, that's not to say we can't take anything away from Hofmann's performances—however brief of fleeting they may have been—this season. 

Datawrapper

In fact, when we take a look at the games Hofmann did take part in when fully fit we see a direct correlation between the success enjoyed by Mainz and coach Kasper Hjulmand's team and the young Dortmund talent's contributions. 

Looking at the graph above, which shows the goals and points picked up per game with and without Hofmann, we can clearly see just how different the Carnival Club look when the 22-year-old is leading the attack. 

With Hofmann in the side, Mainz averaged 1.7 points per game and coincidentally 1.7 goals per game as well, yet when the young talent was on the injury table that dropped to 0.86 points per game and 1.26 goals per game.

A considerable drop that suggests Hjulmand's side picked up nearly half as many points without Hofmann and almost a third as few goals when he wasn't leading the line. 

This was most notable at the start of the season when Hjulmand's side went undefeated in their first eight games of the league campaign, in which Hofmann started and played throughout in all but two. The German then ruptured a knee ligament and missed the next 12 games—a run of matches which Mainz only saw one win from.

Befittingly the forward made his return against none other than parent club Dortmund just a few weeks ago, playing 55 minutes of a game in which Mainz battled to a 4-2 defeat that ultimately left them with one win since October and just one point keeping them from entering the relegation zone.

Four days later, Hjulmand was sacked by the board and replaced by under-23 team coach Martin Schmidt. A move that seemed to perfectly sum up the manner in which the club's season had gone from bad to worse. 

Hofmann missed the following match to Eintracht Frankfurt, which the team won 3-1 last weekend, but should be back and raring to go before too long. Scoring goals and creating chances for a team that clearly miss his notable talent. 

Oddly enough, despite such a large chunk of this season Hofmann could still make something of the 2014/15 campaign if he can see out the remainder of the season like he started it. There are still 12 more Bundesliga games between now and the end of May. 

Plenty of time for Hofmann to cement the theory that he's absolutely indispensable from Mainz and therefore worthy of a spot in Klopp's team next season. 

@Sbienkowski