Full name: Deniz (Dennis) Naki
Club: Bayer Leverkusen (now at loan on Rot Weiss Ahlen)
Date of birth: 09/07/1989
Place of birth: Düren, Germany
Height & Weight: 176 cm, 68 kg
Right-footed
U17, U18, U19, U20 International
IDEAL POSITION: Forward, Offensive midfielder
STRENGTHS:
Quick, electric and tricky player, with great ability and ball handling (with both feet). He can play giving his best as a mobile forward, also is capable of playing in any offensive position of the midfield (including near the touchline). Very technique and creative player, has great vision and superb ball touch. He is a specialist throwing free kicks, both centering and shooting. Great first touch. Likes to have freedom, in this situations is where he usually do his best performances and become more dangerous. Very intelligent moves and also at losing one´s marker, he is very difficult to stop. Has goal and good definition. He likes to dribble aswell and is able to help in the exit of the ball, going to the midfield to receive the ball and to try and get his marker out of his place. He is constantly moving, enjoys going to the sides of the pitch and again to the centre via diagonal move. Dinamic and generous in the way he plays. His physic isn´t awesome , however he knows how to use it and get fouls (he is quite balanced). He doesn´t abuse too much of the individual play, prefers to combine with the teammates. Excellent change of rythm and ball control. His crosses and passes are dangerous too. Very good at driving the counterattacks, he doesn´t lose the time and is quite direct, normally choose the better option. Incisive and slippery, he creates space so their teammates can get profit of them. Plays better when he feels important and touches the ball oftenly. Always available to make the rival pay a mistake. Has lot of talent.
WEAKNESSES:
At the time a bit flimsy and irregular, he tends to disappear in some stages of the match. He also needs to gain force and maybe improve his body strength, also try to improve his aerobic capacity and stamina. He has the quality to assume more responsabilities, also sometimes he needs to be a little bit more individualist and decisive. I think other times he is too backwards in the pitch, needs to be nearest the area to bee even more dangerous. He still can improve in his accuracy with the ball. His deffensive level isn´t outstanding, doesn´t do too much effort in this aspect.
COMPARISON: Pedro Munitis/David Villa
ADDITIONAL INFO:
- Although he didn´t score any goal, he was a key player for the win of Germany in the European U19 2008, where he share team with players of the quality of Dennis Diekmeier, Florian Jungwirth, Lars Bender, Timo Gebhart, Marcel Risse, Savio Nsereko or Richard Sukuta-Pasu.
- Another guy from Leverkusen´s prolific youth system, along with Stefan Reinartz, Marcel Risse or Sukuta-Pasu wants to follow the course of René Adler, Gonzalo Catro or Pirmin Schwegler and become an important player for the team.
EVALUATION/POTENTIAL: 8,9/10
Has all to become an awesome soccer player, he only needs to get better in his defects, have minutes and take profit of the opportunities, if he receives them. I enjoy his play too much, I think he is going to become a very important attacker for Germany in the next years. Is a personal bet.
Written by Joan Peris, 28 February 2009. hoeman5beta@hotmail.com
Recommended links:
Description of Deniz Naki at "Perlas del Fútbol" (Written in 14/11/2007, Spanish)
Video: compilation of his performances at European U19
Deniz Naki in Wikipedia
Pics: www.ntvspor.net, www.daylife.com (Reuters)
