When Bayern Munich swoop to sign a teenage striker with little over a year of senior football under his belt as they have with Hamburg's Jann-Fiete Arp, it's usually a tell-tale sign of a player's credentials.

bundesliga.com has the career skinny on Germany's most exciting leading man since record goalscorer Miroslav Klose...

Jann-Fiete Arp

Age: 19
Club: Bayern Munich
Position: Forward
Country: Germany (26 youth international caps)

Key stats

Arp joined Hamburg at the age of 10. Five years later, he was already beginning to score goals with alarming regularity for the HSV U17s – 37 in 45 appearances all told - but the exponential talent did not take long to outgrow German football's formative leagues.

Arp hit a further nine goals in seven short but sweet outings for the U19s, before making his Bundesliga debut on Matchday 7 of the 2017/18 campaign. He broke his Bundesliga duck at the second time of asking, making history as the first player born in the 21st century to score in the German top flight. The 6'0" striker also top scored at the FIFA 2017 U17 World Cup, and claimed the prestigious Fritz Walter gold medal as Germany's best U17 player of 2017.

Although Arp only turned 19 on 6 January 2019, he could bring up his half-century of senior club appearances before the 2018/19 season is out. He has taken up the option to move to Bayern for the start of the 2019/20 campaign - the choice is his.

Watch: Arp discusses his debut Bundesliga goal and first-team life

Plays a bit like: Harry Kane

Arp scores headers, scrappy follow-ups and 20-yard drives straight out of the top drawer. He also has the frame tailor-made for a career as a No.9 – and has the combative instinct to match.

In short, the Bad Segeberg boy bears all the hallmarks of the archetypal back-to-goal striker – a forward who can put his body between opposition players and the ball and does not relinquish possession without a fight. He can use both feet and boasts a pocket-sized turning circle Lionel Messi would be proud of.

Comparisons with his self-styled role model Harry Kane - of Tottenham Hotspur and England fame - are entirely justified.

"If there was just one player I had to pick as my role model, it's Harry Kane," Arp told uefa.com in May 2017. "He plays the way I want to play. He's quick and very comfortable with and without the ball. It's difficult to stop him. You need to pay attention for 90 minutes because he can score at any time."

'Germany's Harry Kane' helped Hamburg beat Bundesliga club Nuremberg in the 2018/19 DFB Cup Round of 16. - imago/Eibner

About the players

20

Jann-Fiete

Arp

Holstein Kiel

Want more Bundesliga Action?

GET THE UPDATES!

Did you know?

Arp turned down a move to English Premier League club Chelsea in summer 2017, when he was still plying his trade in the Hamburg youth teams.

"It would have made no sense as a 17-year-old to go to Chelsea," Arp told German daily Bild. "You've barely achieved anything yet and have as good as no experience in professional football. The risk is just too great.

"It would have been nonsense to go abroad now and leave everything else behind."

Jann-Fiete Arp, who has a contract with HSV until summer 2020, is fighting for an immediate return to the Bundesliga following the Dinos' relegation in May 2018. - 2018 Getty Images

What they're saying

"He's a massive talent. It's great to have a talent like him on our books. He can become a great player." - former HSV coach Markus Gisdol after inviting Arp to train with the first team in November 2016

"He's the complete player. There's nothing missing from his game." - legendary Hamburg striker Horst Hrubesch

"Jann-Fiete Arp is a very good player. He's a leader on and off the pitch. He's very skilful and great in the air. He knows what spaces to take up – he's very intelligent." - former Germany U17 coach Christian Wück

About the clubs

Hamburger SV

Volksparkstadion

FC Bayern München

Allianz Arena