Bundesliga
Who is Marvin Ducksch?
Marvin Ducksch has received his first call-up to the senior Germany national team. bundesliga.com has the lowdown on Werder Bremen's main man for goals...
Stats correct as of 10 November 2023
Marvin Ducksch
Age: 29
Club: Werder Bremen
Position: Striker
Country: Germany (24 youth caps/ 10 goals)
Key stats
Ducksch's call-up is just reward for some impressive performances in front of goal in 2023. The Bremen No.7 scored nine of his 12 Bundesliga goals last season during the Rückrunde, and has four strikes and as many assists to show for his first 10 league assignments of 2023/24. He dipped his toes in the Bundesliga earlier in his career with Fortuna Düsseldorf and Paderborn, producing a goal for each club in 2018/19 and 2014/15 respectively, having made his top-flight debut in Borussia Dortmund colours, aged 19.
Watch: All Marvin Ducksch's goals and assists so far in 2023/24
A scorer of 100 goals across U17, 18 and reserve-team level, Ducksch made a total of eight senior appearances for boyhood club BVB, netting a debut goal in the 2013/14 DFB Cup first round. The 6'2" forward spent a brief stint in Bundesliga 2 with St. Pauli, before helping Holstein Kiel gain promotion from Germany's 3. Liga with five goals and four assists across 16 games during the second half of 2016/17. He contributed 39 goals the following campaign as Kiel fell agonisingly short of a place in the Bundesliga after losing the 2017/18 promotion/relegation play-off to Wolfsburg.
After a one-season stint at Düsseldorf in the Bundesliga, Ducksch enjoyed another two seasons of double-digit returns in Bundesliga 2 with Hannover. A switch to relegated Bremen followed, his 20 goals, 10 assists and telepathic understanding with Niclas Füllkrug - now Germany's first-choice in the No.9 role - propelling the three-time champions back into the big time at the first time of asking. The 24-time youth international - last capped at U18 level in February 2012 - could be reunited with his former strike partner in the November 2023 friendlies against Türkiye and Austria.
Plays a bit like: Andrej Kramarić
More of a second striker than an out-and-out centre-forward, Ducksch is another criminally underrated but devilishly effective taker and maker of chances, in the mold of Hoffenheim and Croatia international Andrej Kramarić. He's also known for his dead-ball prowess.
Did you know?
Ducksch was picked up by Dortmund at the age of eight, despite turning up late for free trials. The Dortmund native left his kitbag on the train, prompting a frantic back-and-forth between his brother and the local rail company.
"I still remember it well," Ducksch recalled in an interview with bundesliga.com. "My brother called around everywhere. I think I was then about half an hour late, but I got onto one of the teams."
What they're saying
"He's very good from set pieces and is a good finisher. He knows Fülle [Füllkrug] very well - that could help us. He's got that unpredictability factor and can be a real asset, especially as a substitute." - Germany head coach Julian Nagelsmann
"We're happy that we managed to sign Marvin. We knew about his strengths and about the quality he can bring. The movement, how he goes into the spaces, sometimes drops back - he's just a striker whose movement is difficult predict, who always has an element of surprise to his game. You really have to keep a close watch on Marvin for 90 minutes as an opponent. He's incredibly dangerous." Clemens Fritz, Werder’s head of professional football