Nadiem Amiri: Hoffenheim schemer conjuring a magical route to the top
Representative of so much of what the Bundesliga offers - jaw-dropping skill, spectacular finishing and youthful talent in abundance - Nadiem Amiri is a jewel to behold on a football field. His year-on-year progress continuing unabated, 2018/19 should be the Hoffenheim man’s best season yet.
Nadiem Amiri
Age: 21
Position: Attacking midfielder
Club: Hoffenheim
Country: Germany
Key stats
Just seven games shy of a century of Bundesliga appearances, Amiri has been strutting his stuff in Germany’s big league since making his debut on 7 February 2015 against Wolfsburg. Registering eight goals and eleven assists in his 93 top-flight appearances for Hoffenheim to date, the gifted attacker featured in 28 of the Sinsheimers’ matches en route to a team-best third-place finish last term. Part of the Germany team that won the 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the skillful attacker has amassed 17 international caps at U21 level.
Plays a bit like: Julian Brandt
Bayer Leverkusen’s twinkle-toed assassin normally plays in a wider role to that of Amiri, but when it comes to the explosive pace, moments of sudden and stunning displays of skill, balletic dribbling and assured finishing, these two technicians are cut from the same cloth.
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Did you know?
The son of Afghan refugees, Amiri’s parents fled their war-torn country in fear of their lives in the 1980s before finding safety in Ludwigshafen am Rhein in south-west Germany. Some 30 years on, their children Nadiem and Nauwid have developed careers in the world of football while the Amiris run a car dealership.
What they're saying
“TSG has become a bit like a home for me. I would of course like to repay the faith shown in me (by the club), that’s my goal.” - Nadiem Amiri
“He’s a special player because he was able to go from our youth academy to become a high-performing young professional.” Julain Nagelsmann, Hoffenheim coach and the man who led Amiri to an Under-19 title at his current club in 2014.