Brentford have completed the signing of attacker Kevin Schade from Bundesliga side SC Freiburg, subject to international clearance.

Here, we retrace Schade’s path to the Premier League.

Born in Potsdam, on the outskirts of Berlin, to a German mother and Nigerian father, Kevin Schade joined local side SV Babelsberg 03 as a six-year-old in 2008. Schade spent six years at 03, regularly hitting 30 goals a season.

In 2014, aged 12, Schade joined Energie Cottbus, moving away from his family to live in a boarding house while with Energie.

His final year with Cottbus’ under-17s saw Schade score seven goals in 23 Junior Bundesliga games.

Schade moved on again in 2018, this time to Bundesliga club SC Freiburg. After working his way through their under-19s and Freiburg II, he made a Bundesliga squad for the first time in November 2020 for a game at FC Augsburg.

Aged 19, Schade made his Bundesliga debut as a 71st-minute substitute, in a 2-1 home win over Borussia Dortmund in August 2021.

He quickly became a regular, missing just two of Freiburg’s next 25 matches in all competitions.  

Schade scored his first Bundesliga goal in December 2021, heading home the second in a 6-0 win over Borussia Monchengladbach, having also provided the assist for the first. 

Kevin Schade goal v Borussia Monchengladbach

On target: Schade nets his first Bundesliga goal against Borussia Monchengladbach

He registered another three goals in 10 games before an abdominal injury brought his season to an end. Returning to fitness in September, Schade scored his sixth and final Freiburg goal against Hertha BSC in November.

Last season, Schade registered a top sprint speed of 36.37 kmph, which was the second-fastest recorded in the Bundesliga all campaign. He is also the 10th-fastest player on FIFA 23, with a pace rating of 94.

At international level, Schade has represented Germany at every level between under-18 and under-21 level.

He scored a 26-minute hat-trick for Germany’s under-19s in a 9-2 win over Belarus and helped Germany progress to next summer’s Under-21 European Championships with three goals and two assists in four qualifiers.