Young Players Worth the Watch #1- Thilo Kehrer

Biodata

Full Name: Jan Thilo Kehrer

Nationality: German

Date of Birth: 21 September 1996

Height: 1.85m (6ft 1in)

Position: Centre back, Right back

Current Club: Paris Saint-Germain

Current Market Price: 28.00mil Euro (Updated in April 2020)

Highest Market Price: 35.00mil Euro (Dec 2018 to Dec 2019)

Former Clubs:

2015- 2016 Schalke 04 II

2016- 2018 Schalke 04

International Career:

2012 Germany U16

2012- 2013 Germany U17

2015 Germany U19

2015- 2016 Germany U20

2017- Germany U21

2018- Germany

Achievement:

Schalke 04 U19

2012- 2013 German Under-19 Bundesliga West

2013- 2014 German Under-19 Bundesliga West

2014- 2015 German Under-19 Bundesliga West

2014- 2015 German Under-19 Bundesliga

Paris Saint-Germain

2018- 2019 Ligue 1

2019 Trophee des Champions

2019- 2020 Ligue 1

2019- 2020 Coupe de France

2019- 2020 Coupe de la Ligue

Germany U21

2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship

Strength

• Tackling

• Blocking the Ball

Weakness

• Aerial Duels

Career

Schalke 04 has produced a bunch of world-class talents through their academy throughout these years. Players such as Leroy Sane, Manuel Neuer and Mesut Ozil are just the tip of the iceberg among the youth players that are graduated from the Schalke 04 academy. The main character of this article was also one of the emerging talents who is graduated from Schalke 04 academy and blossoms in another club. He had been identified as the future of both the club and national team in his position. He is Thilo Kehrer.

Kehrer joined Schalke 04 youth setup in 2012 at the age of 16. He was mainly played as a centre back in both Schalke 04 U17 and U19 in the 2012-2013 season. In that season, Kehrer helped Schalke 04 Under-17 side to finish top of the league and win the whole U19 Bundesliga tournament in the Schalke 04 Under-19 side. In the next two seasons, he helped the Schalke 04 Under-19 side to win another two U19 Bundesliga. Kehrer’s performance in the youth team certainly caught some attention to the senior side and had been promoted to the second time in the 2015-2016 season and the first team at the following season.

He got his Bundesliga debut in the match against VfL Wolfsburg when he replaced Johannes Geis at the last minute of the match, aged 19 at that time. Kehrer gained more playing time in 2016-2017 season as Schalke 04 had lost Joel Matip to Liverpool on the free transfer. His debut season in Bundesliga is certainly impressive in a youngster standard. In his 16 games played in the Schalke first team, Kehrer recorded 2.2 tackles, 2.7 interceptions and 1.8 clearances. He even got his debut goal in the Revierderby against Borussia Dortmund which is the equaliser for Schalke 04.

Kehrer was also part of the squad that helped Germany U21 to win the UEFA European Under-21 Championship in 2017 with the likes of Max Meyer, Maximilian Arnold and Serge Gnabry in the same team. He came back stronger after the tournaments as he helped Schalke 04 to reach the runners-up spot in Bundesliga, just behind Bayern Munich. Kehrer has up his game in Bundesliga as he recorded 2.9 tackles, 1.3 interceptions and an incredible 3.4 clearances in 28 matches played in the league. He had certainly evolved into the mainstay of the Schalke 04 defence. Kehrer's performance had earned him a first national team call-up in June 2018. His first senior Germany national team cap was three months later when he came out as a substitute as he replaced Matthias Ginter in a friendly match against Peru.

Kehrer’s performance in Veltins-Arena had certainly caught attention from all around Europe top clubs. Eventually, it was Paris Saint-Germain who signed the player with a hefty 37 million Euros transfer fee. Since his transfer to Parc de Princes, Kehrer had still played an important role in Paris’s defensive unit as he played 27 games despite the competition with the likes of Thiago Silva, Presnel Kimpembe and Marquinhos. His defensive stats also portrayed that he has the quality to match the calibre of the senior players in the squad. Kehrer recorded 2.4 tackles, 1.1 interceptions and an incredible 2.3 clearances in the 27 league games played in his debut season in France.

His second season in Paris was not meant to be remembered as he suffered a foot injury in the first match against Nimes Olympique that caused him to missed 20 matches in all competition. The suspension of the French league due to the Covid-19 pandemic does not help his progression as well. However, Kehrer will still be the bright star in Paris defence in the near future once he gets rid off his injury issues since he joined Paris.

Verdict

Potential: 7.5. A defensive player needs a lot of experience to improve himself and read the game better with his match experience increased. Still at the early stages of his career, Kehrer still has the potential to be one of the best players in his position with the likes of Marquinhos as his mentor in his position. The only concern was his injury issue since he joined Paris. Once he managed to get rid off the injury problem, Kehrer will be the player to shine in both club and the national team.

#Kehrer #Germany #Schalke #PSG