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In the last three seasons, the Belgian striker has always surpassed the 20 goal mark, with 3 different teams
When a team like RB Leipzig can count on talents followed by the biggest European clubs like Xavi Simons and Benjamin Sesko , it goes without saying that all the attention is inevitably on them. Yet, numbers in hand, the extra man who makes the difference in Marco Rose 's team is neither the 2003-born striker who grew up in Salzburg nor the Dutchman on loan from PSG, because last season with 29 goals and 7 assists it was Loïs Openda who led the ranking of the most decisive players in the Red Bull club.
Openda, Leipzig's extra man
A relative surprise, especially if you consider that to secure the 2000-born player as Christopher Nkunku's heir (sold to Chelsea for over 60 million euros) in Saxony in the summer of 2023, they broke every club spending record, breaking the 40 million mark. More than Gvardiol, Olmo, Szoboszlai or Sesko himself.
Moreover, the Belgian striker of Moroccan (mother's side) and Congolese (father's) origins was coming off his best season in his career and had dragged Lens with 21 goals to qualification for the Champions League and second place in Ligue 1, only one point behind PSG. A result that the Giallorossi had been missing for 22 years.
Born in Liège and raised between Standard and Club Brugge , to find his dimension in 2020 he went on loan to Vitesse for two years, finding that feeling with the goal that he has never lost. And the numbers say it: in the last three seasons he has always exceeded the double dozen goals, playing with three different teams.
Openda Features
Openda is an atypical striker in some ways, not even reaching 1.80 metres in height, but with a basic speed (he has reached speeds of over 36 km/h ) and a technical ability that allow him to do whatever he wants with the ball, especially when creating space to press defenders and attack in depth, aspects on which Leipzig has traditionally built its system over the last decade.
A constant threat, moved to Vitesse from the wing to the center of the attack. The turning point. Ask Leverkusen, against whom he scored a brace at the end of August to break the unbeaten run that had lasted since the beginning of last season. Right, left, if needed also with his head, even if he is not exactly his strong point. In any case, his tendency to look for the goal is frightening: last year in the Bundesliga only Kane shot more than him (145 to 118, third Undav at 103).
In short, Juve is more than warned: at the European Championship he was unable to shine with Belgium, also due to module issues (in the 4-2-3-1 Tedesco always preferred Lukaku), but in the Champions League he already scored 4 goals last year. And this year he wants to increase the loot.