Tactical analysis: What makes Paul Wanner so effective?

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Wanner has produced four goals and two assists in his first four competitive outings in 2024/25, with Heidenheim enjoying a 100 percent record in Bundesliga, DFB Cup and UEFA Conference League competition.

He can furnish and finish off chances himself, but it's what he does in the build-up that is so impressive, particularly how he invites opposition pressure. The teenager could opt to take on his marker(s), but is more interested in freeing his teammates before releasing a calculated pass into feet. The more attention the wily left-footer receives, the more space they then have to exploit.

Watch: Paul Wanner - rising star

Heidenheim knew what they were getting, after Wanner's eye-catching performances whilst on loan at Bundesliga 2 club Elversberg last season. The Austria-born attacking midfielder played in 28 games, chipping in with six goals and three assists, his game IQ and fondness for preying on opposition mistakes and weaknesses to the fore.

There are shades of Bayern's Thomas Müller - the self-professed 'Raumdeuter' (space invader), while he has a slick passing game in the Florian Wirtz mold and the ability to turn away from opposition players reminsicent of Jamal Musiala. Like all three men, he's neither small - the Heidenheim No.10 is roughly 6'0" tall - nor brawny. Lean and lithe, he prefers to use his smarts rather than his muscle when dealing with on-rushing challenges.

A scene from Heidenheim's 4-0 over Augsburg on Matchday 2 is a case in point. After measuredly hounding Mert Kömür and forcing the Augsburg midfielder to relinquish possession just past halfway, Wanner burst into space, drawing white shirts with him, before releasing the unmarked Adrian Beck for a clean run at goal and emphatic finish.

"He can hold the ball very well in tight spaces and then get out of them," said Heidenheim head coach Frank Schmidt of his stealthy playmaker. "He has a very good passing game, good vision and is already playing at a very high level. We've developed one or two players in the past. Maybe that's why we got him."

At Heidenheim on a season-loan loan, Wanner is at the very least proving himself to be a more than suitable short-term solution to the creator-in-chief role once occupied by Benfica summer signing Jan-Niklas Beste, whose eight goals and 11 assists helped the humble Baden-Württemberg outfit surpass all expectation in their debut top-flight season.

Heidenheim finished eighth in the 2023/24 Bundesliga standings to secure a shot at Conference League qualification, with Wanner's goal and assist in the second leg of their recent play-off tie against Häcken rubber-stamping the club's place in the league phase. The torch passed, it's now up to the Bayern-owned youngster to show just how far he can run with it.