Who is Germany No9 Jann-Fiete Arp?
Sunday, May 14, 2017
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He models his game on Harry Kane and has been linked with Chelsea in the English press – meet Jann-Fiete Arp, who has scored two hat-tricks in four matches at Croatia 2017.
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Thirteen minutes: that's how long it took Jann-Fiete Arp to score three goals against Bosnia and Herzegovina – the first of two hat-tricks he registered in the group stage, the other coming versus the Republic of Ireland – and etch his name into the UEFA European Under-17 Championship finals record books. UEFA.com introduces the Germany No9.
Name: Jann-Fiete Arp
Date of birth: 6 January 2000
Position: forward
Club: Hamburg
• Arp joined the Hamburg fold in 2010 and has scored regularly for the club's youth teams. He netted 36 goals in 44 league matches for their U17 side and so far has two in four outings for the U19s.
• Though yet to make a first-team appearance for HSV, Arp was part of the senior squad's winter training camp in Dubai in January and featured as a second-half substitute in a friendly against al-Nasr.
• He stands on 13 goals in as many games for Germany's U17s after his late winner in the 2-1 quarter-final triumph over the Netherlands on Saturday. Arp was also on target three times in the elite-round victories against Armenia and Turkey.
• "I'm just one part of the team," Arp told UEFA.com after Germany had come from a goal down to defeat the Dutch. "I'm the central striker and often I have the luck, but it's down to the work of my team-mates."
• Arp has demonstrated that he can score different types of goals at the finals – of his seven, five have been with his right foot, one a header and the other via his left boot from close range.
• His clincher against the Netherlands was the work of a true goalscorer. Quiet for 79 minutes, Arp seized on the one chance that came his way when a free-kick was cleared into his path inside the penalty area.
• Arp is one goal shy of France No9 Amine Gouiri's tally of eight in Croatia, the joint most ever scored at a single U17 EURO (Odsonne Edouard first did it in Bulgaria in 2015) and at U17 finals all time.
• Being crowned top scorer is not uppermost in his thoughts, however. "We're all thinking about the title. The golden boot would be very nice, but it's not on my mind. I'm just thinking about the team and being successful together."
• Germany U17 coach Christian Wück told UEFA.com: "Jann-Fiete Arp is a very good player, not only for us but also for Hamburg in the U17 Bundesliga. He's a leading player on and off the pitch. He's very skilful and a great header of the ball. He knows what spaces to take up – he's very intelligent."
• Arp's role model is Tottenham Hotspur's Harry Kane. "He plays the way I want to play. He's pacy 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."
• Standing 1.86m tall, broad-shouldered Arp is already well developed physically. He knows, however, that work on certain technical aspects of his game is required. "I have everything a really good striker needs, but I know my left foot is not as good as it should be and I should improve my heading," he once said. "There is still a lot for me to learn."