Ben Yedder and Volland have scored the same number of goals in Ligue 1 Uber Eats this term (13), but the German has also assisted seven, the Frenchman just four. Volland is two years younger than his erstwhile partner in attack, and Germany are ranked 11 places behind France in the latest FIFA World Ranking. So, what gives?

Fierce competition?

One argument Germany coach Joachim Löw might use is that he has an abundance of attacking options at his disposal, such as Chelsea pair Timo Werner and Kai Havertz, as well as Serge Gnabry and Leroy Sané of European champions Bayern Munich. Although when France Football put that to Volland recently, his response was emphatic.

"You may be faster than me," he said. "But when I compare my stats to those of many other players, I don't have to hide."

Volland is a versatile left-footer who can lead the line, play in a pair - as he does with Ben Yedder at Monaco - or deputise on the wing. He can, like his compatriots mentioned above, perhaps be most easily judged in terms of goals and assists.

Of the five Germans in question, Volland has scored the most goals in all competitions this season with 14, four more than Werner and Gnabry have each managed with Chelsea and Bayern respectively. Sané leads the way on assists, with 11, but when it comes to overall goal involvement, Volland wins out with 22, two more than next-best Werner.

Goal-involvement per minute

And it's not because he has played more games, either. Averaged across the matches they have featured in, Volland has had a direct hand in a goal every 103 minutes. By that measure he is followed, in order, by Sané (107), then, some way back, Werner (142), Gnabry (144) and Havertz (148).

"I put the pressure on myself," said the 28-year-old attacker. "Things can turn quickly in Germany. When you score you're a hero, then you fail in two games and you're the idiot. There aren't many experts or fans with enough judgement to see a striker's work for the team or understand that he's following the coach's instructions."

A cynic might also point to the fact that France is currently fifth in the UEFA Country Coefficients, one spot behind Germany and four from England, but Volland's numbers in his final season in the Bundesliga before swapping Bayer Leverkusen for the Stade Louis II also stack up, whether or not he was doing donkeywork for the manager.

His 12 goals and 10 assists in 2019/20 came in at a rate of one every 137 minutes played - something only Sané, this season, beats.

Youth international star

Volland captained Germany's Under-21 team to a UEFA European Championship semi-final in the Czech Republic in 2015, his two goals and one assist earning him the Silver Boot. Gnabry was part of that squad, but whilst the Bayern man has since plundered 15 goals in 19 senior international caps, Volland's haul for Die Mannschaft sits at one in 10, his last senior game for his country an 8-0 thrashing of San Marino in November 2016.

His lone international strike came against those minnows of European football - but then so did three of Gnabry's - and any question that Volland may not be able to do it in the big games was roundly answered in Round 11 this season, when he scored twice as Monaco stunned champions Paris Saint-Germain 3-2.

Watch: Volland scored twice as Monaco beat PSG 3-2 in Round 11

Jürgen Klinsmann and Oliver Bierhoff had meaningful Germany careers during their time in the principality. Klinsmann scored 29 times in 65 games for Monaco between 1992 and 1994 on the way to becoming his country's fourth-top scorer and sixth-most capped player.

Bierhoff scored five in 18 at the Stade Louis II in the Autumn of his career, but is now Germany's team director and should empathise with Volland's argument more than most. Not that the player himself is holding his breath.

The right player?

"How many players who have the dream even manage to become pro players?" he asked. "How many have played in the Champions League? Or had the chance to play for their country? Very few players win titles, and for that you have to be in the right team."

Monaco are only four points away from PSG at the top of Ligue 1 Uber Eats with eight games left to play. They are also in the last 16 of the Coupe de France. If they could prove to be the right team, Volland is already proving to be the right player. Löw would do well to take note.