Players like Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Robert Lewandowski, Neymar and Mohamed Salah have dominated the headlines for years, but there will inevitably come a time when they will have to hand over their throne to the next generation. In the Toppers van Morgen section, Voetbalzone puts a potential successor to these greats in the limelight every time. Who are in the spotlight at the biggest clubs and should therefore not be missing from your own watchlist? This time the focus is on Maxence Lacroix, who can rightly be called the rock of Wolfsburg.
By Thijs Verhaar
When we hear about Wolfsburg in the Netherlands, it is often about Wout Weghorst and occasionally about Jeffrey Bruma. However, the latter played less than a minute with the first team this season. Weghorst is always there and regularly hits the headlines with his goals. The 28-year-old striker has already scored fourteen league goals this season, with which he has a large share in the success of die Wölfe. He has further developed his head strength and is now reaping the benefits. Where he has already run 1 in 2 in the past two seasons, he now scores an average of every one and a half matches (every 141 minutes at 172 minutes in the previous two years).
The most important reason why Wolfsburg, after years in the middle bracket, is finally hooking up with the top, however, we have to look for in the defense. The team has the least passed defense in all of the Bundesliga, with only 19 goals against in 23 matches. In the last seven league games, they did not even have to allow a single goal, as Schalke 04 did not score in the DFB Pokal against the acclaimed defense line of die Wölfe. Of course, the Belgian goalkeeper Koen Casteels also deserves credits for this, but most of the attention is rightly paid to the French youth international Maxence Lacroix.
The 6-foot-tall center-back is praised for his duel power, composure, ability to step in at the right moments, speed and grace, leading some to even compare him to Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand. Yet for a long time it did not look like the robustly built Lacroix would ever become a defender. As a four-year-old he started as a goalkeeper, because his father used to keep at a high French amateur level. He did not become a field player until he was twelve and as a striker he had the opportunity to play in the youth academy of fourth divisionist Trellisac barely a year later, which meant that the Parisian had to live more than 500 kilometers away.
At the age of fifteen, a new move followed, because second divisionist Sochaux was eager to have him. However, he was not seen as a striker, as he quickly became an attacking midfielder, then a defensive midfielder and eventually a center-back. As head of youth education, Éric Hély told him that there was his greatest chance for a big breakthrough and he was proved right. Lacroix signed his first professional contract with Sochaux at the age of seventeen and made his debut in December 2018 in Coupe de France. In the next year and a half, 27 more performances were added, until Wolfsburg managed to recruit him for a nice sum of five million euros last summer.
Meanwhile, after six months in the Bundesliga, the transfer value of the legal leg is already estimated at seventeen million euros and his contract until mid-2024 suggests that interested clubs will have to dig deeper into their pockets. Lacroix immediately played for Oliver Glasner’s team and made his first goal in the German league with a striking header from a corner last weekend. Moreover, it makes a big impression with its measured top speed of 34.93 kilometers per hour. With that, only Dayot Upamecano is faster of all central defenders. Lacroix is also in the top ten of most successful tackles and can count itself among the fifteen best players in the Bundesliga.
“I am quite athletic, I have speed and I am powerful. Also, I’m not bad at all with the ball at my feet, so I can basically do whatever the coach wants me to do. That’s the most important thing, ”said Lacroix himself recently in conversation with German media. Sporting director Marcel Schäfer adds that the growth brilliant has everything it takes to control the Bundesliga, while coach Oliver Glasner is delighted with Lacroix’s willingness to adapt to his new environment. “He greets me every day in German and is also doing great on the field. I am very satisfied with Maxence’s progress. ”
His rapid advance in the Bundesliga has also not gone unnoticed by the experts at FootballCritic. The website gives all players a rating between zero and one hundred and is based on the last 1,800 minutes of play in which someone took action. By measuring over such a long period, it is crystal clear how constant players are performing. Since consistency is very difficult for young footballers, Lacroix’s score (74) is excellent. With that belongs the French wall now among the top 50 players under 21 and the knowledge that he has scored high ratings every game this calendar year suggests that he will continue to rise rapidly.
For now, the list of comparable players does not yield very impressive names, but in terms of game Lacroix is often placed next to Ozan Kabak. The Turk went from Schalke 04 to Liverpool last January and for Lacroix such a nice step up seems far from out of the question. Borussia Dortmund would already be keeping an eye on him and the same goes for Didier Deschamps. The national coach of France saw him make a big impression with the Under-21 van last year Les Bleus. The elected lord may have plenty of options for his rearguard, but there are rumors from France that Lacroix may receive his first call-up in March.
It is possible that he can play himself in the spotlight for the European Championship, but for now, placement for the Champions League is the most important for the twenty-year-old right leg. Through the impressive series of nine games without a defeat, Wolfsburg has moved up to third place, with a six-point lead over number five Borussia Dortmund. Those Boruses just like Peter Bosz’s Bayer Leverkusen, look far from solid, so there is a considerable chance that Lacroix, Weghorst and Co will be able to report in the billion dollar ball next season. In the remaining eleven games, however, they still play against Bayern Munich, RB Leipzig, Eintracht Frankfurt and Dortmund.
That Wolfe so have everything in their own hands, but despite the favorable starting position they cannot yet count themselves rich. However, the current form offers every reason to dream of a happy ending, because Lacroix forms an excellent duo with John Brooks. The American German is the builder of the two and he guards the balance when the Frenchman gets in again to cover. When the ball is lost, the two central midfielders drift back to the back, while Lacroix chases the attackers from the other side. This creates so much pressure that the opponent often loses the ball quickly and Wolfsburg can build a new attack, with Weghorst as the intended end station.
Lacroix therefore plays a crucial role in the game that trainer Oliver Glasner already performed to perfection in the past with LASK Linz. Yet there are still areas for improvement for the young Frenchman. With his 1.90 meters he should be even more dominant in header duels, while he still too often opts for a wild ball forward in conquering the ball. On the one hand, it is great that he has an eye for the quick wing attackers, but his passing is simply not precise enough to be ready for an absolute top transfer. Fortunately for him, he has plenty of time to develop further in the Volkswagen Arena and with the Champions League within reach, Wolfsburg is not a bad place to launch himself into the world top.