After Mark was named Player of the Month for September and kept leading the Bundesliga scoring chart, the media began debating whether he could win the League's Golden Boot this season.
The usually rigorous Bild listed the goal tallies of Wolfsburg's two previous Bundesliga top scorers:
Grafite hit 28 goals in 2008–09 to claim the season's Golden Boot;
and Dzeko followed with 22 in 2009–10 to lift the Kleinkanone.
Then they compared Mark's goal count at the same stage with those two predecessors.
The result: Mark had more goals at this point than either Grafite or Dzeko.
Finally, they launched an online poll.
The question: "Will Mark win the League Golden Boot this season?"
"Yes or no?"
No one imagined the new-season Mark would explode like this!
Seven goals in six matches—an average of better than one per game!
That scoring rate is on par with the League's established superstar strikers.
Before the season began, Mark hadn't even been in the Golden Boot conversation.
The betting odds were a staggering 50-to-1.
Now, with Mark's red-hot form, bookmakers hastily slashed the Golden Boot odds overnight.
Mark overtook Lewandowski (Bayern), Meyer (Frankfurt), Kießling (Leverkusen), Aubameyang (Dortmund) and the rest to become the new favourite.
The poll instantly hooked fans, who flocked to cast their votes.
Results will be revealed at season's end.
Ten lucky voters will win a year's Bild membership plus €1,000 each.
A year of papers is no big deal.
But €1,000 is serious money.
All they had to do was log in, vote, and fill in their details for a chance at the grand.
Within two days, tens of thousands had voted.
Sixty percent believed Mark would capture this season's Kleinkanone.
Mark himself heard about the poll through teammates' chatter.
Every Wolfsburg player agreed: Mark would win the Golden Boot.
They train and fight beside him daily; no one knows his ability better.
They all know that when Mark wants a goal, nobody in the Bundesliga can stop him.
Mark soon posted a short clip on his socials.
It showed him opening his laptop, visiting Bild's site, and voting "yes" himself.
Naturally, he picked "yes."
Next, he launched his own challenge on social media:
"If I win the Golden Boot, I'll draw ten commenters for signed shirts plus €5,000 each."
"If I don't, I'll still pick ten commenters for €5,000 apiece."
The payout is five times Bild's prize.
The man's all about swagger.
Within minutes, likes, shares and comments rocketed sky-high.
Ten minutes later, super-agent Raiola rang him up.
Raiola praised his guts, then warned he was stacking extra pressure on himself.
Mark didn't care in the least.
With or without the poll, the other seventeen Bundesliga clubs would mark him as enemy No. 1 anyway.
He is Wolfsburg's marquee star—an unavoidable threat every weekend.
His teammates flooded the post with likes and backing.
Even title-winning club legends Grafite and Dzeko tapped the heart button.
Ibrahimović, represented by the same agent, commented first: "Kid's got character—I like it!"
For football's king of swagger, Mark's move was big-time and earned respect.
The stunt sparked heated debate.
Some felt that without the challenge, rivals might not fixate on his Golden-Boot chase.
But now, after all the hype, every side knows he's gunning for the prize.
No club wants to be the backdrop for his highlight reel, so they'll double their efforts to shut him down.
Others saw it as pure confidence in his own ability.
With the media circus at full volume, all eyes turned to the Volkswagen Arena.
As if to prove he can claim the prize, Mark—starting against Augsburg in matchday seven—stayed red-hot.
In the 23rd minute he collected a pass on the left, slalomed past two defenders, shifted inside and curled a beauty into the far corner.
After the break he latched onto De Bruyne's through-ball, raced into the box and slotted home his second.
Mark's third brace of the campaign sealed a 3–1 win over Augsburg and lifted Wolfsburg's club-record winning streak to seven.
The three points kept the record run alive.
Man-of-the-match Mark had backed his big talk with action:
Heavy marking? So what!
I still score.
While the Bundesliga buzzed over Mark's Golden-Boot dare, Britain's Guardian cooked up its own gimmick.
They launched a new monthly feature titled "Next Gen."
Every October, starting this year, ten football analysts will crunch data and performances to pick twenty Premier League prodigies and forty worldwide wonderkids.
Sixty names in total—The Class of Next Gen.
Most of the sixty have either exploded onto the scene this year or shown huge promise earlier.
Several, like Mark, became household names at the World Cup.
Beyond the twenty Premier League picks, the forty global prospects are split among Asia, the Americas and Europe.
Asia's cohort barely warrants mention.
In the Americas, the standout is Corinthians teenager Malcom.
Europe's list, history shows, delivers the highest hit-rate of future stars.
Led by Wolfsburg's Mark, the list brings together Rennes prodigy Ousmane Dembélé, Belgian wonderkid and FM megatalent Youri Tielemans, Porto's youngest-ever captain Rúben Neves, Frankfurt goal-machine Jović, and more—all destined to shine in Europe's top five Leagues.
If those sixty wonderkids were ranked, Mark would be the undisputed No. 1.
Strictly speaking, after a World Cup baptism, Mark can hardly be called a "new star" any more.
While the others are still breaking through as squad rotation or bench options, Mark has locked down a starting berth for the Bundesliga leaders—and is their headline act.
And in the new season he has fired Wolfsburg to a fearsome seven straight wins, topping the Bundesliga scoring chart.
The Guardian's football experts even wrote up a full scouting dossier on every nominee, plus a one-line verdict.
Dembélé's, for example: "Tricky, two-footed wide prodigy."
Mark's read: "A flamboyant German conjurer with the ball at his feet."
British media had once marvelled at "wunderkind" Deisler and "magic boy" Ricken;
they witnessed Müller explode onto the scene and Super Mario Götze slaloming past Bayern.
But never had they seen a German teenager with such swagger and style as Mark.
With his unique flair and a World Cup-deciding strike, Mark has become the new flag-bearer of German football.
"Football Emperor" Beckenbauer calls him "the most un-German German player."
National coach Löw says: "Mark's ceiling is sky-high; stay fit and he'll be this era's most unpredictable wide ruler."
After making The Guardian's Top 60, Mark bought a copy to skim the full list.
Apart from future Ballon d'Or-winner "Dembouz" Ousmane Dembélé, his view of the rest was: "What tier are these guys to share a list with me?"
Still, he's used to it.
The Brits love their flashy headlines.
Any Premier League flash-in-the-pan gets hyped as the next "English Crown Jewel."
If German media hyped half as hard, his transfer fee would have broken the hundred-million mark long ago.
With the October international break here, Mark packed his bags to report for National Team duty.
They face two Euro-qualifier heavyweights: Poland and the Republic of Ireland.
Those two are Germany's toughest rivals in Group D; this double-header is crucial.
On the back of Mark's hot form, Löw slots him in as starting left-winger against Poland.
Reus, like Dortmund out of sorts, begins on the bench… yet at Warsaw's National Stadium Germany run into fierce Polish resistance.
The home side, as if avenging the old "lightning war," swarm Germany again and again under Lewandowski's lead.
The Poles' tenacity catches Germany off guard.
In the 36th minute a right-wing cross finds Lewy unmarked; he cushions it past Neuer. 1-0.
1-0!
Emboldened, Poland press even higher, pinning Germany back.
Then Mark steps up.
43'—corner to Poland.
The in-swinger is met by Boateng's clearing header, dropping outside the box.
Zielinski lashes a volley straight at Neuer, who gathers comfortably.
Instantly Neuer triggers his trademark throw, releasing Mark on the left.
Mark cushions the ball with one touch, spins away in a whirl of studs and grass.
Leaving the full-back for dead, he surges forward, strides lengthening.
Down the left he burns past the last white shirt, feints with the outside of his boot, cuts inside, and suddenly it's keeper Fabiański one-on-one.
A curling finish, top-right corner—unstoppable.
The net ripples; Warsaw falls silent, save for the travelling fans erupting.
Only the away end is roaring, chanting his name.
More than an equaliser—his tenth goal for Germany.
Mark races to the TV camera, crossing forefingers to flash the number "10."
"Goal!"
"An outrageous solo strike!"
"Mark has ten for Germany!"
And he's done it in just thirteen caps—
a strike rate second only to Gerd Müller in Die Mannschaft history.
The goal also ticks off his season objective [10 National Team Goals], earning five precious Potential Points.
Yet one brilliant flash can't hide the team's overall fatigue.
Germany's possession game splutters under Poland's press; only Mark's solos keep the wolves at bay.
But one man can't dribble past ten and finish alone—
he needs support and synergy.
In the end his goal salvages a hard-fought 1-1 draw.
After the Warsaw stalemate, three days' rest, then Ireland visit the German capital.
Two match-days gone, Germany sit third with a win and a draw; Ireland are second, level on points with Poland but behind on goal difference.
Back on home soil, Löw demands nothing less than victory.
This time Götze and Mark form a twin-wing assault, giving the attack two cutting edges.
Götze on the left, Mark on the right—both capable of shredding any defence.
Again the visitors press high.
Yet on familiar turf Germany look calmer, sharper.
27'—Mark drifts right, exchanges a slick one-two with Müller, races to the by-line and pulls back a perfect cut-back.
Kroos arrives late and side-foots home: 1-0.
Second half, Mark switches flanks, collects Kroos' pass and rifles a low drive inside the arc: 2-0.
In the end the Mark–Kroos show earns all three points.