Player to Watch: Alexander Merkel

"What’s happened over the last few weeks hasn’t really sunk in yet, but it’s a wonderful experience." The 19 year-old German midfielder currently at AC Milan in Italy, Alexander Merkel, is this week's player to watch. At only 19 years of age he has already experienced a lot for someone his age.

He made his professional debut in December of last year with AC Milan in their defeat to Ajax Amsterdam. A month later he scored his first goal against Bari in a Coppa Italia match. He is under contract at the Italian club until the summer of 2013. Merkel has appeared in 17 matches so far with I Rossoneri starting in 13 of them and is on pursuit of his first trophy which would be the Serie A title if they can hold on to the two point lead they have on inter-city rivals Inter Milan.

The youngster featured in Germany's U-19 national team in November and has shown a lot of promise and talent since then. His abilities on the ball allow him to play central midfield but can also push up into a more attacking role. He is considered the new blond German angel and may be the future of a very talented German side. With very little experience at the time, he will only continue to grow and mature into a better player, and this makes him a player to watch. At the moment, his market value according to transfermarkt.de is at €3,000,000. Within the next several months and certainly as time passes by, this number will only increase.