I watched Kevin Kampl play for Salzburg this week, and he's an incredibly impressive young player. The 23-year-old Slovenian plays with energy but also a swagger, looking eagerly for the ball in tight areas to take advantage of his incredible touch and composure under pressure. 2 assists in the match I saw against Rapid Vienna today, the second an exquisite little chip across tight from the byline that caught the entire defence by surprise.
He's strongly linked with Arsenal - I've seen some quotes where he talks about his dream of playing under Wenger. Fair enough, I can see how they're a great match. But how to go about valuing a talent like this - it feels like anything under £20m is a bargain, yet a club could pay that price and get a player who flits in and out of games. It's almost as if the player needs to exist for a season or two more at an intermediate club in preparation for being the real deal at the very top level.
There's little more pleasing though than watching a genuinely elegant player, who seems to find time in the tightest of spaces, plying his trade. I'll be watching a fair bit of Salzburg this season if he stays there. Actually I was fairly impressed with Rapid Vienna as well, with little of the financial clout of Salzburg but plenty of tidy ability in their side. It's always hard to rate leagues, and I usually use the English championship (a tough league I know really well) as a sort of measure of the level. Happy to say that on this evidence the Austrian league is somewhere above it in terms of quality, and looking at transfer records I see the Austrian game is (naturally I suppose) a common feeder for clubs in Germany. Maybe English clubs should be looking there more often as well, not just because of the quality but because of the value.
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