Openda interview: Leipzig forward on scoring at Man City and idolising Drogba

Quiz question. Who is the only player to score twice in the first half of a Manchester City game at the Etihad Stadium this season? Perhaps surprisingly, the answer is not Erling Haaland. It is not even Julian Alvarez. The player is RB Leipzig forward Lois Openda.

The Belgium international has been a revelation in the Bundesliga since arriving from Lens in the summer. His record of 11 goals and four assists puts him among the top five players in the competition for goal involvements this season and it is no hot streak.

Openda has had more shots than any Bundesliga player, including Harry Kane. Only Kylian Mbappe has had more attempts than him across Europe's major leagues. At 23, Leipzig looks like it was the right step - and it is unlikely to be his last one.

Asked by Sky Sports why he chose Leipzig, Openda explains: "It was the perfect team for me to progress. If you look how they play the game, how they defend, how they attack, the playing style is a good connection with me as a player with my profile."

He cites the examples of Benjamin Sesko and Xavi Simons, who also joined in the summer. "I talked with my family and they said it was a top club for the development of the player because I am really young and they give a lot of confidence to young players," he adds.

"That is why they also made this move. This team is top for the development of top players and I want to be a top player. I want to play for the best teams in the world. I hope I will do that. The move to Leipzig can help me to do that. That is why I came to Leipzig."

Throughout the course of a 30-minute discussion with a small group of journalists, that self-belief shines through. He talks of idolising Didier Drogba when he was a child. "I wanted to be one day a