Sebastian Rudy and Niklas Süle ended their summer holidays on Saturday afternoon with their first FC Bayern training session. Just 24 hours later, the duo have taken part in their first media assignment since their moves from Hoffenheim at Säbener Straße. Ahead of Sunday afternoon’s training session, the two Germany internationals were officially presented as players of the German record champions.
“I’m glad to finally be here. I had a long break and I’m just looking forward to getting going here and showing what I can do,” said Rudy. After winning the Confederations Cup at the start of July, the two former Hoffenheim men have finally joined up with the Bayern squad along with Joshua Kimmich and Arturo Vidal, who were also at the Confed Cup and did not travel with FCB on their Audi Summer Tour.
Süle spoke of feeling “new sensations” in his first few days with Bayern. “Everything here is much bigger than at Hoffenheim but I already feel really good here,” the 21-year-old defender explained. He also added that he is “really looking forward to the challenge” at FCB.
Coach Carlo Ancelotti insisted the two new signings possess “great quality” and is convinced that “they will improve our team. They will make us better able to compete in all competitions by strengthening our defence and midfield.” Despite their late arrival in training, Ancelotti believes the duo are able to feature in the Audi Cup matches on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Süle and Rudy had their first training session with their new teammates in the afternoon and they are eager to push for a place at the club. “You expect to be able to play, otherwise you wouldn’t make the move,” Rudy said. The defensive midfielder, who stated that he feels “most comfortable in that position,” wants to compete with Vidal, Renato Sanches and Corentin Tolisso for a starting place in that position.
“I want to continue to improve, grow as a person and push myself. I think we have good competition for places here and that means we’re all pushing ourselves and have to perform at our best. I’ll try and play my part in that,” the 27-year-old stressed.
Süle, who will compete with world champions Mats Hummels and Jerome Boateng, as well as Javi Martinez, for a position in defence also added: “There’s nothing better for me as a young player than learning from the best in the world. It’s a massive task for me to pressure the boys, to soak up as much as I can from them and try to get game time.”