VfB Stuttgart's Deniz Undav back on song after injury
Fit-again VfB Stuttgart striker Deniz Undav has been firing on all cylinders since his return from injury, showing no signs of ring rust as he bangs in the goals.
Last month was a memorable one for Undav, who scored six of Stuttgart’s eight Bundesliga goals. That made him the league’s top scorer in November, placing him behind only Harry Kane (14) and Jonathan Burkardt (8) in the overall rankings.
It's no mere purple patch. A deadeye in the penalty box, the 5’10” hitman has established himself as one of the Bundesliga’s finest strikers.
Watch: The best of Deniz Undav
But it hasn’t been an easy path to the top. Born in Varel, near Oldenburg, Undav joined Werder Bremen’s youth academy in 2007, where he spent five years before being released, because he was too small.
“That really hurt," he told Kreiszeitung Syke. "Particularly because I was a little lad from the Bremen region. It took me a couple of days to come to terms with it, but then I just looked forward."
An amateur at Havelse and Meppen, it was Union Saint-Gilloise, whom he joined in 2020, where Undav launched himself into the limelight. Returning 17 goals and five assists helped the Belgian outfit secure promotion to the top flight as champions.
Hitting the headlines the following campaign, his 25 goals and 10 assists secured a move to Brighton and Hove Albion after Union SG narrowly missed out on another league title.
However, scoring only five goals in 22 Premier League appearances after struggling to break into the first team, it was at Stuttgart where Undav would find a home for himself in 2023/24.
His 18 goals and nine assists on loan from the Seagulls secured the Swabians’s return to the UEFA Champions League for the first time since the 2009/10 season, which prompted club bosses to sign the player on a permanent basis in 2024.
Undav’s performances that season earned VfB’s sharpshooter a place in Julian Nagelsmann’s Germany squad for UEFA Euro 2024 - although apart from six minutes against Hungary, he was an unused substitute.
The following campaign, Undav picked up where he left off at club level, notably scoring against Real Madrid at the Bernabéu before scoring a brace in Stuttgart’s 5-1 demolition of Borussia Dortmund.
He carried that form into Nagelsmann’s following two Germany squads, returning three goals in two games during their UEFA Nations League A campaign.
However, Undav’s resolve was tested. As VfB picked up just one win in 10 Bundesliga games between Matchday 19 and Matchday 29 of the 2024/25 campaign, Undav’s goals also dried up.
Scoring on his first start in four games, against Union Berlin on Matchday 30, he reflected on his goalscoring drought with Sky Germany: “Naturally, there are times when you're a substitute and you have to work your way back.”
As he has done throughout his career, though, Undav exhibited his determination to succeed, which was again challenged when he suffered a tear to the medial collateral ligament in his left knee against Borussia Mönchengladbach on Matchday 2 of the current campaign.
Absent from Matchdays 3 to 6, Undav has been Sebastian Hoeneß’s main source of goals since his return. Marking his first start since August with a spectacular game-winning lob against Mainz on Matchday 8, his performance laid the foundation for what was to come.
Undav’s catalogue of goals showcases the art of goalscoring. Netting a brace against Augsburg in a thrilling 3-2 come-from-behind victory, he said: “I’m a short striker but I think you could see I win headers, I win duels against tall defenders.”
He followed that up with a hat-trick against Dortmund on Matchday 11 as the Swabians recovered from 2-0 and 3-2 down to salvage a share of the spoils.
“Scoring three goals is always nice,” beamed Undav, who particularly enjoyed his third strike: “It was like a typical striker goal, a typical Deniz goal.”
Watch: Undav nets second-half hat-trick against Dortmund.
Stuttgart’s No. 26 scored in a third consecutive Bundesliga game on Matchday 12 last weekend, but was unable to prevent his team’s defeat in Hamburg. Still his average of a goal every 75 minutes in November was extremely impressive.
And he has carried that form into December too, finding the target in Stuttgart's DFB Cup last-16 win over Bochum on Wednesday.
Absent from Germany’s last three squads due to injury, Undav is up against Nick Woltemade, who is shining for Newcastle United, Eintracht Frankfurt's Jonathan Burkardt, the Bundesliga's highest-scoring German this season, and Borussia Mönchengladbach's Tim Kleindienst, when it comes to securing a nomination for Nagelsmann’s FIFA World Cup 2026 squad.
But if he can maintain his ruthlessness in front of goal, then Stuttgart’s clinical finisher has every chance. After all, he has built a career on overcoming obstacles.
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