Bundesliga: Five South Americans to keep your eye on when action returns

Modified May 14, 2020 09:04 GMT

After several weeks without top-level football, Bundesliga will be the first major league to restart this weekend. In this feature, we will go through five South American players you may want to keep an eye when the action gets back underway on Saturday.

#1. Jhon Córdoba

Following disappointing spells with Espanyol, Granada and Mainz, Jhon Córdoba has found his home in Köln. This season he's been in scintillating form, netting ten times in 21 games as well as providing one assist. Cordoba's goals are one of the main reasons why Koln sit comfortably in 10th place - ten points clear of the dreaded drop zone.

His impressive ten goals place him as the top-scoring South American player in the Bundesliga so far this campaign.

Look out for his strength and thunderous strikes which has led to many giving him the label of the Colombian Didier Drogba.

#2. Paulo Otávio

São Paulo born Paulo Otávio joined Wolfsburg from FC Ingolstadt 04 in the summer. Unfortunately in his early days at his new club, he struggled with injury which led to him only featuring eight times in all competitions this season.

The good news, however, is that before the break Otavio completed the last six games, helping Wolfsburg keep three clean sheets in all competitions - showing he's slowly starting to settle in at Wolfsburg.

The key components of his game are his ability to dribble with the ball and win tackles which he's shown persistently since breaking into the starting 11.

#3. Matheus Cunha

After joining Hertha Berlin in the summer, Matheus Cunha had an awful end to 2019 with his new club, with him failing to find the net since moving from Leipzig. However, in January he went away with Brazil's Under 23s for the Olympic qualifiers and rediscovered his form, scoring five goals in the same number of games.

On his return to league action, Cunha scored in back-to-back games for the capital club before the break and he will be hoping he can continue where he left off.

Cunhae loves a shot from outside the box and possesses plenty of the Brazilian flair which is pleasing to the eye.

#4. Lucas Alario

The former River Plate man, Lucas Alario, is a forward who has always been a consistent goalscorer whichever team he has been at. This season is no exception. So far he has scored sixteen goals in all competitions for Bayer Leverkusen.

If offered a chance Alario will likely find a way to put the ball past the keeper with his deadly finishing ability and is also creative from dead-ball situations.

#5. Philippe Coutinho

Last, but by no means least, the most recognisable player on this list in Philippe Coutinho.

It would be impossible to not include Coutinho on this list... he's a player who, when in form, is exhilarating to watch with his fancy tricks and his defence-splitting passes.

Even when Coutinho is off the boil he can spark some magic with a cut inside leading blistering long-range effort which usually finds the net. The Brazilian is slowly rebuilding his career whilst on loan at Bayern Munich after a tough spell with Barcelona. So far this season in the league he has eight goals to his name including a hat trick against Werder Bremen back in December.

With rumours hinting at Coutinho returning to England, many fans will be keen to see if he can show a glimpse of what he showed back in his Liverpool days. Do not take your eyes off this little magician.

Edited by S Chowdhury