Pierre-Michel Lasogga

Early years

Pierre-Michel Lasogga grew up as the son of players consultant Kerstin Lasogga in Gladbeck near the stadium of Schalke 04 stadium in Gelsenkirchen; he also had a season ticket for FC Schalke 04. His stepfather is the former football goalkeeper Oliver Reck, who played for Schalke 04 between 1998 and 2003. After playing for the youth teams of 1. FC Gladbeck, Schalke 04, Rot-Weiss Essen, SG Wattenscheid 09 and VfL Wolfsburg, Lasogga attracted the attention of Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen, who signed him in 2009. Lasogga quickly established himself in Leverkusen's youth team, making 25 appearances in the 2009–10 season. He scored 25 times in the U-19 Bundesliga West, making him the league's top goalscorer, and helped secure Leverkusen a spot in the national finals, which they lost 1–0 to Hansa Rostock. Towards the end of the season, Lasogga made his senior debut, making five appearances for Bayer Leverkusen's reserves in the Regionalliga West during the 2009–10 season.

First experiences in the Bundesliga

After just one season with Leverkusen, he left the club, and signed for 2. Bundesliga club Hertha BSC on a three-year contract. Lasogga impressed during Hertha's preseason friendlies, scoring six goals, but injured himself just days before the opening fixture. After missing the first five league matches, Lasogga made his professional debut against Energie Cottbus on 24 September 2010. Three weeks later, Lasogga featured in Hertha's starting…

On 21 March 2011, Lasogga was first invited to the U-21 team of Germany when he was nominated for the friendly matches against the Netherlands and Italy. On 25 March 2011, he debuted in the starting line-up in the friendly against the Netherlands and scored the 1–0 lead. Lasogga was nominated on 16 May 2013 by former U-21 coach Rainer Adrion for the preliminary squad for the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, and on 28 May 2013 made it into the final squad. In the first group match against the Netherlands that Germany lost 2–3, Lasogga stood in the starting line-up and was substituted. The second group game against Spain on 12 June 2013 was his last appearance for the U-21 team. Germany lost the game 0–1 and was eliminated early. In the third group match against Russia, he and some other players were not used. After the tournament, Lasogga was no longer eligible to play because of his age. On 28 February 2014, Lasogga was called up by manager Joachim Löw to Germany's senior national team for the friendly in the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Stuttgart against Chile. Due to an injury, Lasogga could not play.

Lasogga's stepfather is former Werder Bremen, Schalke and German international goalkeeper Oliver Reck. Lasogga's mother Kerstin acts as his agent. He has a younger sister, Jenny, and two younger brothers, Gian-Luca and Etienne. Both play for Hertha BSC youth teams.