Lewis Holtby

Lewis Holtby is a German midfielder of English origin. He is a captain of the Germany youth team. Lewis was born on 23 January 1987 in Erkelenz, North Rhine-Westphalia.

Despite Holtby’s being a citizen of Germany and performing for the national team of the country, he is half English by his father’s side.

Holtby went in for football at the age of five and began his career in one of the junior teams of his native town. When Lewis was 11, he drew the attention of Borussia Mönchengladbach scouts and moved to the youth academy of the club. However, soon the coaching staff decided the player was too weak and skinny to become a professional so Holtby left Borussia and joined Alemannia Aachen, where he made his professional début by coming on the pitch two times during the 2007/2008 season. The following year turned out to be really full-scale and professional for the young midfielder.

In the summer 2009 Lewis attracted the attention of Schalke 04 management, which soon bought the talented footballer for €2.5 million. In the winter 2010 the midfielder went on a six-month loan to VfL Bochum in order to gain playing practice he lacked in Gelsenkirchen.

In June 2010 Holtby returned from the temporary team and was immediately sent to another one, Mainz 05. That is where the footballer developed into a workmanlike professional and took his skills to a new level, which drew the invitations to play for the England national team and ‘The DFB-Eleven’. Lewis set his choice on Germany, though his father was an ardent Everton fan and wanted his son to play for ‘The Three Lions’.

On 18 March 2011, one of Schalke 04 managers announced Holtby would return to the Gelsenkirchen side club after his second loan spell, because the team really counted on him. On 13 August 2011, Lewis started to repay by showing an imperious form and netting a goal in the match against 1. FC Köln. In 2013 Lewis joined a London side Tottenham Hotspur.

Later on that season he was loaned to Fulham to get more playing time.

The midfielder’s first senior international cap came on 17 November 2010, when he played 73 minutes of the match against Sweden. On 7 June 2011, Lewis made his second appearance for ‘Die Mannschaft’, when his national team confronted Azerbaijan in the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying.