ALBION’s new striker Deniz Undav has admitted he has been compared to Germany’s legendary striker Gerd Muller by previous coaches.

Undav signed a deal to join Albion on transfer deadline day and will link up with his new team in the summer after completing the current campaign with Belgian side Union SG.

The 25-year-old is a goalscorer as he has scored 100 goals in only 181 appearances in his career so far.

In a recent interview Belgian outlet 7sur7, Undav suggested that he is a hard worker and in his youth career was compared to the Bayern Munich legend.

He said: “I am an ordinary guy, not at all one of the bling generation. I don’t have expensive tastes. I don’t wear expensive designer clothes and I don’t drive a massive car. I know all about what it means to work hard to earn a living.

The Argus: Deniz Undan will link up with Albion in the summerDeniz Undan will link up with Albion in the summer

“In the academy at Werder Bremen some coaches called me Gerd Muller. I didn’t know who he was at first, but they said I had a similar style…with a big backside.

“So I started watching some old videos, and they had a point. Playing with my back to goal and holding the ball up is my big strength and if you are strong you can hold off one or two defenders – you don’t have to be a giant to play that target-man role.

“When they told me at 14 that I didn’t have a future with them because I was too small, it broke my heart.

“But I did not abandon hope. I left the family home at 17 to sign for Havelse in the semi-pro regional league, the fourth division in Germany.

“There I combined playing and training with working full-time, eight-hour days operating a laser machine in a factory.

“I got up around 4am, went to the factory, then I went to training and got back home around 8pm before doing it all again the next day.

“I had to do that job for the money to live because I was only earning around £120 a week and I couldn’t survive on the money from the football alone.”

Undav’s hard work in his early years has proved vital to his career as he has been able to overcome recent difficulties.

The striker has also admitted that he has studied world-class talents such as Thierry Henry, Ronaldo and Andreas Iniesta to improve his own game.

He said: “I always knew I had ability and qualities, but I needed to work to improve especially on my weak points. When I arrived at Union, things were not easy.

“We were in Covid and my then girlfriend and now wife Tanja had to stay in Germany. I was in a hotel, because I hadn’t managed to get an apartment.

“That made me very stressed and unhappy, and I ate very badly, too much fast-food.

“So that summer I worked very hard in pre-season to lose weight and be a lot fitter. And today I am content and very happily married. That makes a big difference.

“Growing up I looked up to Thierry Henry, the Brazilian Ronaldo – not Cristiano. I used to study them for hours on the TV and then when I’d go outside with friends after doing my homework I pretended to be one of the two of them.

“I also used to love watching Andres Iniesta at Barcelona, just for how absurdly easy he made it look to control a game.”

Undav is not concerned about getting an international call-up for Germany but has suggested that it would be a dream of his to play for Die Mannschaft.

He said: “Getting a chance for Germany doesn’t worry me too much at the moment. If I do get the phone call I’ll be overjoyed because it’s the dream of every footballer to play for their country.

“If it doesn’t happen, I won’t cry. Germany have Timo Werner, Kai Havertz, Thomas Müller…although we don’t have any true goal scorers.”