Is there anything Marcel Sabitzer can’t do?
The man who holds a functional yet thrilling RB Leipzig team together like superglue, Sabitzer not only leads a ferocious press, hassling and harrying the opposition into submission, he is also the driving force of Julian Nagelsmann’s attack.
A sublime assist to set up Amadou Haidara’s opener in the 4-0 DFB Pokal victory over Bochum on Wednesday night was typical of what the Austrian has become under Nagelsmann: a bona fide, elite-level match-changing talent.
Picking up a loose ball in the middle of the park, Sabitzer spotted Haidara’s late run into the penalty area before picking him out with deadly accuracy.
A goal of his own followed later in the first half; a firmly-dispatched penalty kick meaning that, since the start of 2019/20, the former Salzburg star has produced 20 goals and 16 assists from the centre of the park.
Stats like this do not go unnoticed, especially when one of the Premier League’s biggest and most ambitious clubs are on the lookout for a Swiss army knife of a midfielder capable of combining Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s snarl with the craft and guile of Tanguy Ndombele.
Jose Mourinho would undoubtedly have been impressed by the way Sabitzer approached a cup game against second-tier opposition, producing a classic captain’s performance as if it was the Champions League final.
When it comes to the Leipzig skipper, his attitude is just as impressive as his ability.
With Sabitzer unwilling to extend a contract which expires in 2022, it seems only a matter of time before he is following in Timo Werner’s footsteps, potentially, by swapping Leipzig for London.
BILD claim that the 26-year-old would be very tempted by the chance to join Tottenham should Mourinho come calling.
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