Why Sinan Kurt Is the Bayern Munich II Player Most Likely to Make the Grade

When Sinan Kurt left Borussia Monchengladbach for Bayern Munich at the end of the 2014 summer transfer window, it was a bitter blow for the Fohlen.

Gladbach had done everything they could to keep their most prized academy graduate, but the player would not be denied his dream of a move to the Allianz Arena and was ultimately allowed to leave to put pen to paper on a four-year contract.

Things haven't gone entirely to plan for Kurt since his transfer. The 19-year-old managed to make a 45-minute debut for the senior team against Hertha BSC in April, but he otherwise spent almost the entire season with the under-19s. He was promoted to the reserves over the summer, but one masterclass against TSV Rain am Lech aside, he has struggled to make much of an impact.

Yet if one had to choose the Bayern II player most likely to succeed, Kurt is probably the best bet. The key consideration in his case is potential. Looking around the Bayern reserves, there are some older players such as captain and striker Karl-Heinz Lappe and former senior player Jan Kirchhoff. The latter has had his career blighted by injuries, and it's hard to see where he'd fit into the first-team squad even if he were playing at the level he was during his pre-Bayern peak.

Among the younger players, there is more potential. Julian Green has a World Cup goal to his name, but his loan move to Hamburg in 2014 was a failure.

Then there's 19-year-old Gianluca Gaudino, a quality player but one who was never one of Germany's top-rated central midfielders in his age group. He certainly has potential but has serious obstacles to overcome: his size, his tactical fit into the team and the many options ahead of him. Even among younger Bayern players, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and recent recruit Joshua Kimmich are ahead of him. And Bayern will surely continue to take a proactive stance to replace their first-choice central midfielders as they age.

Kurt, on the other hand, has a great deal of untapped potential and a steep but slightly less hindered path to the first team. He was part of Germany's youth national teams from under-15 to under-19 level and had a very respectable record of four goals in nine games for the under-18s.

In the 2012-13 season, he scored 23 goals and gave nine assists in 26 games for the Gladbach under-17s, his strike tally being second only to Schalke's Donis Avdijaj, a starlet with a €49 million release clause, according to SportBild. The next year, he finished third in the Under-19 Bundesliga West scoring charts, behind Avdijaj and Lucas Cueto with 16 goals.

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The goals have largely dried up since Kurt's move to Munich; the process of settling hasn't exactly gone smoothly, and he's struggled to adapt. He was even dropped from the starting lineup in the recent derby loss to 1860 Munich II. Yet the potential to become a star is there if he manages to find his feet.

He's already proved he has a great eye for goal, but the youngster is much more than just a finisher. He has explosive acceleration and great skill on the ball to dribble. Coming in from the wing, he can be both a creator and a direct finisher.

Looking ahead, the skills Kurt possesses will be useful to Bayern in the coming years. Franck Ribery's replacement has apparently been found in Douglas Costa, but Kingsley Coman still has something to prove if he is to step into Arjen Robben's boots.

The Frenchman's development is far ahead of Kurt's, but anything can happen in one or two years. Even so, Bayern will need more than two or even three wingers in their squad. The number of games they play requires at least two full teams' worth of quality players, and if he makes an impression before another signing is brought in ahead of him, Kurt could start to progress.

Football fans and the media alike tend to be most excited about rising teenagers, but in fairness, there are many late bloomers. Antonio Di Natale didn't play in Serie B until he was 23 and only made his Serie A debut at 25. Didier Drogba never scored more han three goals in a Ligue 1 season until he was 24.

Kurt has a very long way to go and faces an uphill battle in a Bayern team that is already very competitive and, in all likelihood, will continue to develop with star signings. But if there is a Bayern reserve player who stands half a chance of breaking into the first team, it's Kurt. The talent is there; he'll just have to make something of it.

@Mr_Bundesliga