Rookie of the season so far: Timo Werner
Munich - There has been a crop of youngsters that have announced themselves in the Bundesliga this season: FC Schalke 04's Max Meyer, Borussia Dortmund's Erik Durm and Hamburger SV's Hakan Calhanoglu to name just a few.
Wide eyed and fresh-faced
However, for the emotion that he exudes on the pitch and the explosive impact he has had on VfB Stuttgart this season, bundesliga.com's award for Rookie of the Season so far has to go to .
On Matchday 6, Werner etched his name into Bundesliga folklore by netting in a 1-1 draw against Eintracht Frankfurt at the age of just 17 years and five months, making him the youngest ever Bundesliga scorer for Stuttgart and the third-youngest in the league overall behind Julian Draxler and Nuri Sahin.
Since then he has gone on to score three more times - including a quite brilliant brace in a 3-1 away win at local rivals SC Freiburg on Matchday 12 - and provide four assists, and despite a wealth of attacking quality in the VfB squad, he is now one of the first names on head coach Thomas Schneider's team sheet, having started the last six matches.
Wide eyed and fresh-faced
Plucked from the youth team and thrown into the senior squad by former coach Bruno Labbadia, his precocious talent is now being nurtured perfectly by Schneider, who was no doubt aware of his protege's abilities having been a youth coach at the club himself before taking up the post of leading the first team in late August.
Born just a stone's throw from the Mercedes-Benz Arena, Werner looks set to be a regular at VfB for years to come, as well as a central building block in the club's future.
