Most of the players had already returned to the dressing room after a lengthy training session on Wednesday morning, but Julian Green and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg remained out on the training ground, playing keepy-up and passing among themselves, until Pep Guardiola took the pair to one side for a few words. “After training, he explained how we should move with the unit," revealed the 18-year-old Green after his chat with the new boss. There have been many other examples demonstrating just how much Guardiola values working with talented youngsters.
The Spaniard has included seven junior players in his squad for the week-long training camp in Trentino. “It's a real test of character," commented Green, “and it's definitely a bit special." Patrick Weihrauch, already a member of the senior squad and the top scorer in pre-season so far with six goals in the first two friendlies, could only agree. “When you work out with this class of player, you’re learning every day," the 19-year-old said. That is because the likes of Lahm and Ribéry “are really welcoming and help us whenever they can," added Green.
Juniors primed for training camp
A large group of hopefuls is currently benefiting from the early stages of pre-season. Apart from Green, junior team players Rico Strieder, Benno Schmitz, Alessandro Schöpf, Daniel Wein, Vladimir Rankovic and Oliver Markoutz have been part of the group for training ever since the restart on 26 June, while Emre Can, Hojbjerg, Mitchell Weiser, Lukas Raeder and Weihrauch are all just starting out on their careers. “Youth players have always trained with the seniors at Bayern," observed junior team chief Wolfgang Dremmler, “but obviously, it's a welcome form of recognition, for the players and the work put in by the whole junior team."
Topics of this article