GOAL tells you everything you need to know about the in-demand 24-year-old being tipped to star for Germany at the 2026 World Cup
Real Madrid are presently paying a heavy price for failing to replace Toni Kroos last summer, but then it was always going to be a tough task. For starters, the now-retired German ranks as one of the finest deep-lying playmakers of the modern era.
Secondly, as Liverpool know only too well, finding a specialist No.6 is extremely difficult these days. Were it not for Arne Slot's successful conversion of Ryan Gravenberch into a defensive midfielder, the Reds would not be on the verge of winning just their second Premier League title right now.
It's clear, though, that Liverpool require another option in front of the back four, just as Madrid desperately need to belatedly find a worthy successor to Kroos. Consequently, there's every chance that they could end up battling for the same player this summer, namely Angelo Stiller, the Stuttgart star being touted as 'the new Toni Kroos'…
Where it began
Stiller was born into a Bayern-mad family in Munich. One would have thought, then, that when his hometown club first came calling, he would have immediately jumped at the chance to join the Bavarian giants.
However, the eight-year-old Stiller made Bayern wait. He spent another season playing with his friends for local team Milbertshofen before eventually signing for the six-time champions of Europe in 2010. Stiller wasted little time progressing through the Bayern youth team ranks thereafter and was playing for the Under-19s while still only 17.
AdvertisementGetty Images SportThe big break
To say that Sebastian Hoeness has been a big influence on Stiller's career would be putting it very mildly indeed. It was the former Hertha Berlin attacking midfielder who called a teenage Stiller up to the Bayern reserves in 2019, and his impressive performances in Germany's third tier led to a first-team debut under Hansi Flick in October of the following year.
Hoeness' presence at Hoffenheim also played a key part in Stiller's decision to move to the PreZero Arena when his Bayern contract expired at the end of the 2020-21 campaign. And so, when Hoeness left for Stuttgart, it wasn't in the least bit surprising to see the pair reunited again in the summer of 2023.
"It's definitely something special when a coach follows your career for so long and you get to play under him," Stiller told the Bundesliga's official website earlier this year. "I think we both see football the same way. I believe we both want to play the same kind of football, both offensively and defensively, and I think that it is important that we have that trust."
Getty Images SportHow it's going
Hoeness' departure from Hoffenheim in the summer of 2022 was unsurprisingly a serious setback for Stiller. He still featured 20 times during the following campaign, but he started only six times. Consequently, Stiller wasn't at all happy with how his career was progressing. He felt as if he were stagnating, which is why he jumped at the opportunity to be reunited with his mentor at the MHPArena.
Stuttgart paid just €5.5 million to sign Stiller in the summer of 2023 and it quickly proved a sensational bit of business, with the defensive midfielder helping the club to a shock second-placed finish in last season's Bundesliga.
"At the beginning, no one really expected that from us, including ourselves, to be honest," Stiller subsequently admitted. "But over the course of the games, weeks, and months, we showed that we play good football. That's why I believe the season should be rated very highly."
The current campaign is not going quite as well – at least not for Stuttgart, who are 11th in the Bundesliga standings. Stiller, by contrast, is continuing to impress. He broke into the Germany squad after Kroos' post-Euro 2024 retirement from football and has earned four caps in his country's Nations League campaign so far, while his fine form has also attracted the attention of some of Europe's elite.
Biggest strengths
Stiller is not your typical ball-winning defensive midfielder. He's a gifted, multi-talented playmaker who has drawn comparisons to not only Kroos but another of his esteemed compatriots in Joshua Kimmich, due to his ability to read the game and pick a pass.
Indeed, he's one of the Bundesliga's most creative players, as underlined by his current tally of eight assists so far this season (just two fewer than the top-ranked Florian Wirtz), while he's also chipped in with four goals, including two during Stuttgart's run to the DFB-Pokal final.
What Hoeness really loves about Stiller, though, is his maturity, which he says has stood out since he was playing under-age football at Bayern. Consequently, he has never had any doubts about his protege's world-class potential, and was even pushing for him to be called up by Germany for Euro 2024.
"He is always able to adapt to a higher level," Hoeness said. "He is able to dictate a game – and that's because he understands the game. He knows just how many touches he needs in a particular situation – and that is rarely more than two, sometimes just one."