By showing only a small part of his abilities in France and completely disappeared in England, "Cologne" striker Anthony Modeste proved that he is one of the most dangerous forwards in the world. Modeste is not only a goal-scoring machine in Germany, but he also helps the "Cologne" team to secure a place in the UEFA Europa League. On April 14, 2016, the Frenchman celebrated his 28th birthday, and after that - unforgettable years. A few weeks after his birthday, Modeste scored four goals, "Cologne" finished the 2015-2016 season with five consecutive unbeaten matches, and the forward with 15 goals became the club's top scorer and the fifth highest scorer of the season. "Koln" striker started this season even better than he finished the previous one. Modeste scored 11 goals in the first nine games and quickly surged ahead in the race for the Bundesliga golden boot. Maintaining stability throughout the season, the striker found the back of the net 23 times, with only four games left in Germany, the Frenchman is just three goals behind second-placed Robert Lewandowski and four behind Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. The "Koln" team is currently only one point behind the "Werder Bremen" players in sixth place. This sixth place in the Bundesliga standings gives a ticket to the Europa League. "At 28, I feel that I am at a higher level and have great confidence in myself," Modeste said at the beginning of the season. "I can now better evaluate and analyze my game." 23 goals are Modeste's best career result, worth mentioning that this is more than half of "Koln" goals this season (43). However, the excellent season does not reflect his entire French career, which began at the "Nice" club in the French Ligue 1. After a very difficult start to his career, Modeste was loaned to the second league "Angers" team for one reason - the striker scored only three goals in two seasons. In the second league, the Frenchman fared much better and scored as many as 20 goals in 37 matches. After winning the Golden Boot, Modeste moved to the "Bordeaux" team, which won the double the season before, winning the Ligue 1 trophies and the country's cup. At first, everything seemed to go according to plan. Modeste scored two goals in two consecutive games against the "Marseille" team and his former club "Nice." And later managed to score a "hat-trick" against "Arles-Avignon". However, after a great start - five goals in the first six games, there was a big slump. After the winter break, Modeste failed to score in 16 consecutive matches and quickly lost his place in the starting lineup in the 2011-2012 season. The situation went from bad to very bad. After several months, the striker was loaned to the "Blackburn Rovers" team and in January 2012 he left for England, and a short stay in Britain was probably the worst period of his career. The Frenchman failed to score even once in 9 games. the "Blackburn Rovers" team could not stay in the Premier League and was relegated to the second strongest league in England. After such performances, Modeste was considered and labeled a big disappointment, although the striker does not rush to consider this experience unsuccessful: "Playing at Blackburn made me stronger. You have to find positive things everywhere. I can say that despite everything, I learned to speak English," - remained positive Frenchman. After a catastrophic end of the season in England, Modeste returned to his homeland and joined the "Bordeaux" team, but in coach Francis Gillot's schemes, the striker did not find a place. At the age of just 24, it seemed that Modeste would remain a "what would have been if" type of player and would have to accept that he had not yet revealed all his potential. Loaned to another French club "Bastia", Modeste seems to have hit the spot. Already in the opening match against "Sochaux", contributing with a goal to a 3-2 victory, the striker did not stop there. Goals were flowing freely, and the striker finished the season with 15 goals and demonstrated an impressive return to the Ligue 1 championships. "Bastia" managed to avoid relegation from the highest French league, and for Modeste, this earned a ticket to the Bundesliga, where he joined the "Hoffenheim" team in the summer of 2013. "In Germany, you play to win, while in France, you play not to lose. That's just the mentality. As a forward, I really like to play attacking football, and that's why I moved to Germany. I think I made a good decision," said the Frenchman. "Hoffenheim" should not contradict these words either. Just like at the "Bastia" club, here, Modeste started strongly and scored six goals in the first seven matches. However, he failed to maintain stability, but still managed to finish the season with 12 goals and an honorable performance in his debut in the highest league in Germany, which by no means resembled his experience in England. The second season was a bit more challenging for the striker, as he had to compete not only with Sven Schipplock but also with newcomer Adam Szalai for a place in the starting lineup. Modeste started a total of 16 matches from the first minute and scored only seven goals, including a five-month goal drought between November and April. At the end of the season, the striker was sold to the "Koln" team, and this move paid off well for the club. "It was not a difficult purchase," said "Koln" manager Jorg Schmadtke, who later admitted that he was surprised that it was so easy to acquire one of the best Bundesliga forwards. The striker continued his successful performances, and in his official debut, he already scored a hat-trick in the DFB Cup against the fourth league "Meppen" team. After this performance, the Frenchman scored six goals and made two assists in the next eight Bundesliga matches and did not look back. His career - like real American hills with a lot of ups and downs, but there is no doubt that the Frenchman is experiencing his best times. And his teammate Timo Horn said that what Modeste is doing is better than Lewandowski or Aubameyang, who are surrounded by stars in their clubs. Meanwhile, the success of "Koln" is the fruit of a solid team and the excellent Modeste's performance in front of the goal. Modeste's excellent performance did not go unnoticed in France. The local magazine "So Foot" even released a petition for Didier Deschamps to invite Modeste to the French national team for the 2018 World Cup. "My two goals are to play in the Champions League and taste international football with France," the striker admitted. If the Frenchman can only expect an invitation to the national team, then "Koln" is already 15 points behind the fourth place, and we will definitely not see them in the Champions League next season. In June, France will meet with the Swedish national team in a very important qualification match for the World Cup, and before that, they will host the England national team for a friendly match. "He plays well, he has improved a lot. It all depends on him, but he is definitely one of the forwards we follow closely," said the head coach of the French national team, Deschamps. Whatever happens with the Blues, Modeste will certainly play an important role in "Koln's" fight for the Europa League. And we must not forget the battle with Lewandowski and Aubameyang, where the Frenchman will certainly not give up easily. This is the wonderful journey of Modeste, once considered a big disappointment, the striker's perseverance is on the way to the top.
