Who Is Set to Be Borussia Dortmund's Next Big Star This Season?

Borussia Dortmund have a lot of good players. Although it may not have looked like it last season when Jurgen Klopp couldn't get a win from them for love or money as they sat bottom of the Bundesliga table during the winter break, this squad is full of quality wherever you look. 

Roman Burki is a talented, young goalkeeper who will undoubtedly be playing at the very top of the game for the next decade; Mats Hummels can tackle and head a ball as well as he can pick out a 40-yard pass across the pitch; and Marco Reus is as gifted with the ball at his feet at full pace as any attacking midfielder in Europe. 

Yet there is one other who will undoubtedly hope to make the step up and match these stars around him for Dortmund this season. Yes, if Thomas Tuchel can orchestrate it perfectly, we may just have another star name at the Westfalenstadion by the name of Julian Weigl. 

Many would have predicted that a season on the bench or perhaps even out on loan would have been the best-case scenario for young Weigl, who turns 20 in September, when he arrived from 1860 Munich this summer. Yet, as he's shown over the course of his very short career, barriers—especially those associated with his inexperience—can always be overcome. 

The young midfielder joined Die Sechzger when he was 14 yet, within four seasons, he had already advanced to the under-19s, became captain of that squad, then progressed through the reserve team and into the first-team squad. Six months after his senior debut, the club was ready to hand Weigl the captaincy, making him the youngest in its 155-year history.  

"He displays the ability to learn and to soak things up. He is a totally clear, cordial and open young man," noted Tuchel when talking about his recent signing for UEFA.com earlier this month. Yet it is this coach, who noted Weigl's talent almost immediately, who can help push him on to the next level. 

Despite the quality on offer in Tuchel's squad this season, there is a notable hole in the side. Specifically, a Nuri Sahin-shaped hole at the base of midfield that nobody could have quite filled until Weigl came along.

Ilkay Gundogan is far too eager to burst forward to score and create goals, Gonzalo Castro often finds himself out on either wing, and Sven Bender—although a defensive-minded player—simply doesn't possess the technical ability to pass and maintain possession like his Turkish team-mate.

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It's this niche in Dortmund's revolution under Tuchel that allowed Weigl to step into the side almost immediately this summer when the new coach needed a Sahin-like player to sit in over the pre-season friendly matches.

Weigl's talent lies in protecting the ball and using it to efficient effect. He's a player most fans wouldn't even notice when he's doing his job right. A silent guardian of the centre circle, the 19-year-old plays with the game in front of him and the defence firmly protected behind him. 

His short passing and almost casual style of cushioning possession is exactly the kind of football Tuchel has tried and so far succeeded in bringing to the former German champions. Out has gone Klopp's harsh, rugged attacking game and in its place we now find a more sophisticated, contemporary style of dominating a game. And Weigl is at the heart of it. 

Sahin will undoubtedly return to full fitness at some point this season, and Weigl may ultimately find himself watching from the sidelines from one week to the next, but as things stand, no player has more to gain from this coming season quite like this new Dortmund starlet in the making. 

This teenager is ready for the challenge in front of him in Dortmund, as he has been his whole career, and as such, we may just be looking at this club's next big star to join Reus & Co. 

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