He's had to endure some tough results on the field, but Zack Steffen is making quite an impression on the higher-ups at Fortuna Dusseldorf.
Fortuna are currently residing at the bottom of the Bundesliga table coming off a 3-0 defeat to Bayer Leverkusen on Sunday and Steffen is currently sidelined with a knee injury. But speaking in an interview with Transfermarkt.us, Fortuna sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel spoke in glowing terms of Steffen, who is currently playing for the club on loan from Manchester City.
"Zack had a brilliant start into the season and showed that he has the potential to become a top 'keeper at the European level," Pfannenstiel said. "Steffen has all the ingredients. He has a very clean goalkeeper technique. Good reactions, good hands, and demanding in the box. His distribution and game-opening make him a modern 'keeper. Looking at all that, it is not a surprise that Manchester City went for Zack."
That's likely music to the ears of fans of the US men's national team, with Steffen establishing himself as the Yanks' top young option between the posts since getting his first senior cap in 2018. Fortuna's dismal season on the pitch may have made it seem like the loan wasn't going particularly well at first glance, but Pfannenstiel's quotes suggest that's not necessarily the case.
The 24-year-old was picked up by Man City after a standout run with Columbus Crew SC that saw him make the MLS Best XI and take home the league's Goalkeeper of the Year award in 2018.
