Nmecha embodies a type of player that does not otherwise exist in the DFB team – the central striker, physically robust, strong in the air, but also technically skilled. While World Cup candidates like the new Dortmunder Karim Adeyemi or Thomas Müller act more as a hanging tip and Timo Werner likes to play centrally, but mainly succeeds through his speed, Nmecha comes up with a different profile. “I prefer to be up front,” replies the attacker, who was born in Hamburg in 1998, when asked about his favorite position.
“He feels comfortable in the penalty area and is greedy for goals,” stated world champion Müller once after Nmecha’s first practice sessions with the national team in November 2021 and certified the 1.85-meter-tall Wolfsburg player that “the ideal center forward comes very close”. That’s why the media like the “Frankfurter Rundschau” dubbed him the “secret weapon” of the national coach for the World Cup – and an almost indispensable size in the squad. But is that really the case?
Nmecha has not yet scored in six games in the DFB jersey. But he takes it easy: “Of course I was annoyed that I didn’t take my chance against Holland, but otherwise I’m not worried about it.” Probably also because his career is anything but streamlined, despite his exceptional talent – the peat calls mentioned at the beginning are more of a side note.
One place runs like a red thread through Nmecha’s life: “Manchester” – when he pronounces the name of the north-west English city, it is strongly reminiscent of the Gallagher brothers Liam and Noel. But not only the “Mancunian” dialect connects him with the Oasis brawlers. Nmecha has spent most of a sporting life at her favorite club: Manchester City.
Discovered in Manchester
“I was nine when I came to England and after just two or three months the City scouts spotted me,” explains Nmecha. His parents had previously moved from Hamburg to Manchester – and little Lukas had only played football with his buddies in the park in the Hanseatic city. “That was unusual,” says Nmecha, who the city scouts spotted at a school team game and took with them to training.
“In England, talent is sought and promoted from a young age. You can see what kind of players are developing there at the moment,” explains Nmecha, who quickly played himself to the fore in the city youth – but not on the big field. “I can still remember my first eleven-a-side game when I was 12 or 13 years old – and I was always offside because I didn’t know the rules,” he says with a loud laugh.