Six goals and four assists in nine games, a goal on his Champions League debut: the 2005-born Eintracht Frankfurt player is one of the big surprises of the early season. And his teammate Mario Goetze vouches for him.

Good feet, Turkish origins, but born in Regensburg in 2005. Think this is an article about Kenan Yildiz? Wrong, although we’re not too far off. Can Uzun has been the Juventus starlet’s best friend since they were children. What unites them, of course, is their passion for soccer. They started out together in a small local club and often find themselves training together on their old home turf in the summer: this also happened three months ago, before the start of the season. What separates them, however, is an almost opposite trajectory: Kenan took the main route, passing through the Bayern Munich youth sector and then landing at Juve, where he has now become an undisputed starter. Can took the side road: Nuremberg, the Zweite Bundesliga, then Eintracht Frankfurt, with whom he is now emerging as one of Germany’s best talents. Six goals and four assists in his first nine games of the season, with a goal on his Champions League debut against Galatasaray, just as his friend Yildiz did a year ago against PSV.

What kind of player is Can Uzun? An attacking midfielder, but with the physique of a central midfielder (186 centimeters) and the running ability of a wing midfielder, he kicks equally well with his right and left foot. In Germany, he is compared to Mario Goetze, his teammate at Eintracht, for his ability to maneuver in tight spaces and get a shot off or deliver illuminating passes to his teammates. “Mario is a legend, when he talks to me I listen in silence,” Uzun confessed. “Can has enormous talent and is already a top-class player technically,” was the compliment from the 2014 World Cup winner. Yet, just like Yildiz, Uzun chose Turkey, his parents’ country of origin. It’s not that the Germans didn’t try to convince him: Rudi Voeller even went to his home to plead the case of the Deutscher Fussball-Bund. To no avail, much to the delight of Vincenzo Montella. “Everyone should know how much we believe in him, our confidence in his potential is immense,” said the Turkey coach, who has already sent him onto the field four times with the national team before he even turned 20.

FUTURE—  He arrived in Frankfurt in 2024 after scoring 16 goals in the Zweite Bundesliga. After his first year of settling in, he has exploded onto the scene in the early part of this season. If his performances continue, a move to a big club is almost a foregone conclusion. For those in the know, however, Can Uzun is not a surprise or a flash in the pan. Inter Milan has been following him since his youth days in Nuremberg. In the meantime, the competition has definitely increased. Half of Europe is watching the talented Turkish player with interest, who is tied to Eintracht with a contract until 2029. However, if Yildiz were to talk to him about Juventus, would he be able to say no?