Rolfes tipped for top

While Diego and Raphael van der Vaart may be hogging the headlines, it is another midfield dynamo who could yet emerge as the Bundesliga's biggest star.

Bayer Leverkusen's Simon Rolfes may not have Europe's big boys reaching for their chequebooks as quickly as the Werder Bremen wonder kid or Hamburg hot-shot, but the 25-year-old's stock is rising by the week.

He came fourth in Kicker magazine's recent poll of the best players in the first half of the season - and was the top home grown prospect on the list.

Rolfes was also voted the best defensive midfielder in the division, ahead of such rivals as Bayern Munich's Ze Roberto and Schalke's Jermain Jones, as he stamped his mark on the top flight.

His assured performances in the centre of the pitch have helped the 2002 UEFA Champions League finalists up to fourth place in the Bundesliga, hot on the heels of the leaders.

Bayer have struggled to replicate the achievements of that fateful season six years ago, when they came with in touching distance of a glorious treble, but ended up finishing as runners-up in the league and cup as well.

They saw their best players like Michael Ballack, Lucio and Ze Roberto lured to Bayern, but Rolfes has helped rekindle hopes of another title challenge.

Indeed, he is sparking so many comparisons to the German captain he has become known as the 'Mini-Ballack'.

Bayer's sporting director Rudi Voller said: "That is what I dubbed Simon when he came to us. Perhaps the two have a different way of playing. But they both have an uncanny presence on the field - and are always looking for a shooting chance."

Such comparisons are all very well, but the touch-tackling midfielder wants to achieve something Ballack never did - guide Bayer to that elusive Bundesliga title.

And after signing a new contract last autumn tying him to the Bay Arena until 2010, Rolfes revealed his ambitions for the club.

He told Bayer's official website, www.bayer04.de: "I have a plan. And I want to see it through. It means setting a realistic target, from which you don't get distracted.

"We have to play in European competition. And in the coming year we should attack Bremen and Schalke."

He added: "Everyone wants to win the Championship. It must develop. That can take time but can also happen very quickly with a certain momentum - just look at the example of (defending champions) Stuttgart."

Rolfes is also starting to make a name for himself on the international stage.

He has won seven caps since making his debut against Denmark in March last year, and although far from assured of a place in Joachim Low's first team, played his part in qualification for Euro 2008.

His displays this season have all but guaranteed him a place in the squad for Austria and Switzerland and he could yet prove to be one of the surprise packages of the tournament - especially if midfield rival Torsten Frings fails to regain his fitness.

But Rolfes' current status as one of the brightest prospects in German football hides a tough baptism in the game.

The midfielder started his career at Werder Bremen, but failed to make the grade at the Weserstadion, not making a single appearance in his first three seasons at the club.

He was shipped out on loan to Regional League side SSV Reutlingen before signing for Alemania Aachen in 2004.

He was there for just one season before earning a move to Bayer where he has grown into the focal point of the team.

And if Leverkusen manage to overhaul Werder in the second half of the season to claim their first ever Bundesliga crown, then the Green and Whites will be ruing the day they let Rolfes get away.

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