'We've agreed terms with Danijel Pranjic'

The Bayern senior squad for next season is taking on ever sharper contours. On Thursday, Uli Hoeneß confirmed to fcbayern.de that the Munich club had struck a deal likely to bring Danijel Pranjic of Dutch top flight side SC Heerenveen to Germany's most successful club. "We've agreed terms with the player,“ the FCB general manager said, "but we've not concluded negotiations with his club, so we can't offer 100 percent confirmation of the transfer.“

Should the clubs reach a satisfactory agreement, Pranjic would be the sixth new face in next term's squad, joining Mario Gomez, Ivica Olic, Alexander Baumjohann, Anatoliy Tymoschuk and Andreas Görlitz, who returns from a two-year loan spell with Karlsruhe. "What else can I say, other that I'm overjoyed," the 27-year-old Croatia star was quoted as saying. "Bayern are a massive club. I'll do my very best to repay the faith shown in me by Van Gaal. And I'm already looking forward to playing with Ivica Olic in the future.“

Cultured left foot

Pranjic, who was first called up for Croatia in 2004, knows Olic from time spent together with the national team. The player operates on the left flank, either in defence or attack. He has a proven record of laying on goals from dangerous crosses and free-kicks delivered with his cultured left foot.

Pranjic joined Heerenveen in 2005, scoring 32 goals and providing 37 assists in 129 league and 21 UEFA Cup appearances. He collected a Dutch cup winners' medal a few weeks ago with the side which finished fifth in the Eredivisie this term. His greatest success with Croatia to date was a place in the EURO 2008 quarter-finals. In the Croats' 2-1 group stage victory over eventual finalists Germany, Pranjic supplied the cross which led to the East Europeans taking the lead.