Goretzka’s former coach believes one day he becomes Germany’s captain

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Leon Goretzka

helped his country at

to book a last-16 showdown with England.

The

international has come a long way from humble beginnings. He joined Schalke from Bochum in July 2013. During his time at Schalke, he was able to rise to the point where Bayern Munich became interested, with three seasons at Bayern Munich seeing Bundesliga and Champions League crowns collected by him.

Peter Neururer

, who worked with Goretzka at Bochum in 2013, believes the 26-year-old is the best “box-to-box” midfielder in the world.

Neururer told

of Goretzka and the impressive progress he has made to this point:

"It was predictable that Leon would develop so positively in terms of football.

"In addition to his technical skills, he has great game intelligence. He anticipates situations like hardly anyone else and knows how to contribute in the best possible way.

"When I was still coaching him, he did his job extraordinarily well. However, he was not necessarily renowned for his goalscoring ability. In this area, he has perhaps made the biggest step.

"For me personally, there is no one better than him in the world as a central midfielder or in the role of a box-to-box player. When he plays in the right position, in the right team, in the right system, he is hard to beat."

Goretzka’s contract expires in 12 months and there has not been any extension so far.

Neururer believes there is even more to Goretzka and there is even the chance of him becoming the captain of his country one day.

"I have every confidence in him," Neururer said of a player that currently has 34 caps to his name. "He has leadership qualities not only as a footballer but also as a person.

"I have been in the business for over 30 years and have met many impressive personalities. But in the category of the most extraordinary personalities, Leon is way out in front."

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