A full German international since 2008, Marko Marin has not featured for the Die Mannschaft since the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, after rejecting the chance to play for Bosnia Herzegovina. Marin was also part of the German Under-21 Side that swept away England 4-0 to lift the Under-21 European Championship, a team that boosted the likes of Mesut Özil and Sami Khedira, yet Marin has failed to reach similar heights.
Standing at a very slight 5’6”, Marin begun his senior career with Borussia Mönchengladbach and made his debut for the historic club at the tender age of 18. After two and a half seasons Marin earned a move to Werder Bremen for €8.2 million, where he established himself in an exciting attacking trio with fellow German internationals Aaron Hunt and Mesut Özil, a trio that lit up the Weserstadion. Upon signing Thomas Schaaf, then Werder Bremen’s head coach, described Marin as “one of the biggest talents in German football.” Such high praise did not seem overstated with the tricky winger recording four goals and ten assists in his debut season for Bremen. The following season Marin was to accumulate similar figures with four goals and nine assists. However, following Özil’s departure to Real Madrid, Marin’s form dropped considerably as he also fell to a series of niggling injuries. Therefore it came as a surprise in Marin’s native Germany that Chelsea opted to splash out €8 million to secure his services on a five-year contract after just 8 goals in 87 Bundesliga appearances for Werder Bremen and failing to earn the recognition of German national team manager Joachim Löw.
Marin was clearly elated to move to the Premier League, describing Chelsea as his ‘dream club’ after rejecting the advances of London rivals, Tottenham Hotspur. Marin’s enthusiasm was admirable and he turned up to summer training early in a bid to improve his fitness ahead of Chelsea’s pre-season fixtures. In the subsequent pre-season tour Marin impressed and appeared to be fulfilling his long-awaited potential, scoring on his first appearance against Seattle Sounders, as Chelsea ran out 4-2 winners. Unfortunately, Marin succumbed to a reoccurring hamstring injury and was forced to wait until November to make his Premier League debut in a 0-0 draw at home to West London rivals, Fulham. It took Marin until February to get his first goal in a 4-1 win at home to Wigan, with the German scoring with his first touch as he came on as a substitute with just stoppage time remaining. All in all it was a largely unproductive season for Marin, admittedly not helped by his injury woes, he was unable to force his way past the likes of Juan Mata, Eden Hazard, Oscar and Victor Moses, with the majority of his appearances coming in the League Cup.
The following season saw Marin loaned to La Liga side, Sevilla, where he picked up his second Europa League Winner’s medal. Once again plagued by injury, the winger failed to force himself into the starting XI with only 8 League starts and 3 starts in European competition. This season Marin began pre-season training in Florence, joining ACF Fiorentina on a season-long loan. However after only two appearances, both of which against minor opposition in the Europa League, Fiorentina opted to prematurely cancel his loan just short of the January transfer window. Marin’s next move on the turn of the New Year saw him link up with R.S.C. Anderlecht of Belgium on an initial loan with a view to a permanent move, £4.4 million the quoted fee. To much surprise Marin has failed to make a name for himself in Belgium, starting only starting five matches before being ruled out for several weeks with yet another hamstring injury. Anderlecht have already informed Chelsea that they won’t be taking up their option to buy the German international, meaning Chelsea will once again be searching for a new club to offload Marin during the next transfer window.
The future seems unclear for Marin, who has yet to complete a full season since his early days in the Bundesliga. His much stop-start career has also seen him try himself in the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A and the Jupiler Pro League, representing a steady decline in quality and competitiveness. Only at the age of 26, Marin still has a relatively long period of professional football awaiting him, but injuries certainly cast doubt over his long-term future.
You can hear more from Conor on Twitter @Conor_OConnell.
