EMRE CAN

Who is he? Where does he play?

He is a 19 year old midfielder hoping to be the next talent to emerge into Bayern Munich's highly impressive squad. Hoping to follow in the footsteps of Toni Kroos, Thomas Muller and Bastian Schweinsteiger, Can has been playing regularly for Bayern Munich's second string, but club president Uli Hoeness has identified him as one for the future amid a breakthrough into the senior squad.

What did he have to say?

He called him "the midfielder of the future and a jewel for Bayern Munich", which is high praise indeed. Steffen Freund, his coach in Germany's under-17 World Cup squad in 2011, also got in on the plaudits, calling him the "most complete midfielder" he'd ever seen in his career. He is tall, strong and boasts excellent technique, able to play in the heart of midfield or further forward, as he did out in Mexico for the under-17s. During his time in the Bayern Munich II squad, he was also deployed as a centre-half such is the faith the club installs in his versatile talent and natural reading of the game.

Yet another option for Guardiola then? 

Jupp Heycnkes had given Can a couple of opportunities on the fringes of the full squad, starting him at left-back (this lad can play anywhere) against Borussia Dortmund in the DHL Supercup, the German version of the Community Shield. He has had to settle for a place on the bench since then as Bayern have demolished all-comers in an irresistible campaign, but he has ben entrusted with four Bundesliga appearances, scoring 2 goals. Guardiola will be well-stocked in central-midfield, he Can call upon his talented deep-lying playmaker if he is forced too. (See what I did there).

Joachim Loew gets him too? We're jealous...

Yep, so we should be. An under-layer of sublime German talent under the likes of Gotze, Reus and co. all points to a decade of German dominance on the international stage. It is interesting that nationality should arise however, with Can being of Turkish descent, he has chosen not to follow in the footsteps of Yildaray Basturk, Mehmet Scholl and the Altintop twins, all former Turkish-German talents, in representing Turkey, but he will play for Germany instead. He has already captained the under-17 generation and has since played for the under-19 group.

Next stop, the seniors....?

One step at a time for Can you would think. He's got the Can-do attitude (sorry... couldn't resist) to emerge as a professional among some very gifted individuals at Bayern so you would predict that his career will be very bright. One option would be for Guardiola to send the teenager out on loan, similar to how Kroos developed with a season at Bayer Leverkusen. It would help his development as Bayern suffer death by outrageously talented central-midfielder.