The excellent Saurabh Ananth from fouraddedon.com takes a look at the new generation of youngster about to take on the Bundesliga big boys

A new, talented generation of German footballers is coming through the ranks from Hamburg to Munich and everywhere in between. Demand for homegrown talent within Germany is at an all time high with clubs in Germany much more willing to give young talents from lower leagues a chance than in most other countries.

Many academies have played a big part in this revolution. 1860 Munich, for example, have already made their mark on German football and many current Bundesliga players have come through the ranks there. And the German national team prospers from some of the most talented young players in the world. It was one of the youngest squads in the 2010 World Cup and pundits were rightfully questioning Germany’s chances. They were proven so wrong however and there’s no doubt that the 2014 World Cup in Brazil will feature even more young Germans.

Here’s three young players we should be watching for in the upcoming season, and we might even seen two of them in 2014.

We’ll start off with the Hungarian, Zoltan Stieber . He is a very talented winger, who recently joined carnival boys Mainz. Mainz were swift in replacing Schalke loanee Lewis Holtby. After a memorable breakthrough season for the German U21 captain it was time to head back to Schalke, much to the sadness of not only the Mainz fans but the player himself. Zoltan Stieber will be brought in to Mainz’s first team and could be a solid Bundesliga player and one of the best young players next season. The 22 year old impressed at his 2. Bundesliga club Aachen, a club which has brought to light such talents as Vedad Ibisevic among others.

The winger’s play down the left is a familiar style that you see very often these days. He’s very confident on the ball and even off it and makes good runs into the box. An intelligent player, he knows when to keep the ball out wide and when to cut inside. And as a winger who cuts inside as often as he does he needs to be a good finisher, and he is. He managed to score 10 goals and bagged a whopping 17 assists in his one season with Aachen. Stieber has been capped by Hungary at the U19 and U21 level but playing at the Bundesliga level at Mainz will surely earn him a call up to the senior team soon enough.

Pierre-Michel Lasogga is the only player of these three who has made the step up to the Bundesliga through promotion. The 19 year old striker joined Hertha Berlin from Leverkusen earlier last season and went on to become a popular figure within the Hertha ranks. The striker scored 13 league goals from 25 league games. He was initially brought in to be a backup striker but after an impressive preseason he was brought into the squad as soon as possible. Despite missing a few games due to injury at the start of the season, he was able to displace another new signing, Rob Friend with ease.

He made his professional debut against Energie Cottbus, brought on as a substitute and started his first game just weeks later. His performances for the German U21s are well documented as well. Despite Germany not making it to the U21 European Championship, Lassoga played a good part in Germany’s qualifying campaign as he was eased into the squad. At six feet and two inches, Lasogga bares a very strong resemblance to current PSG striker Guillaume Hoarau in his physique and his dominance in the air. He’s a confident finisher and one of the best rounded young strikers coming through the German academy system. Hertha will be happy as Pierre-Michel Lasogga extended his contract with the Berliners and will be a major part in their fight to stay in the Bundesliga.

Former Cottbus striker, Nils Petersen , just signed for Bayern Munich a month ago, the 22 year old was also given the coveted number 9 shirt. And why not? Petersen has been prolific and has scored 35 goals in his 2 seasons with the club based in eastern Germany. In fact in 2010/11, Petersen was the club’s top scorer, scoring 25 of those goals from 33 games. Like Lassoga, Petersen stands at six feet and two inches and is confident in the air. He’s also the kind of poacher any team would love to have. Not difficult to see why Bayern Munich went for him, although with the likes of Mario Gomez and Ivica Olic to compete with, it’ll be interesting to see how much playing time Petersen will really get and whether the move from Cottbus was the best choice for him.

Petersen scores two goals in a 5-5 thriller against Karlsruhe (skip to 0:03 and 8:17 for just Petersen’s goals)

For young Germans and even for foreign players coming into the lowers leagues of Germany, it’s easy for young players to get noticed with the intensive scouting networks of the bigger clubs. These three could soon join the list of many prominent players that have made their way up from the German lower divisions.