Hansi Flick made a dream come true for two youngsters from the FC Bayern Campus in the 3-1 win at home to Freiburg. Chris Richards and Jamal Musiala both came on for their Bundesliga debuts in the closing stages of Saturday’s match. “The boys are on a very good path and we’ve rewarded them for their performances in the third division by allowing them to get a sniff of the Bundesliga,” explained the head coach, who’s very impressed overall by the talent coming out of the academy.
“There’s very good work going on at the Campus, and because of that we have a lot of quality. But they have still have a long way to go to play for Bayern Munich,” added the 55-year-old. As well as Richards and Musiala, three other academy products have made their debut this season. We look back over their first appearances.
18.12.2019: Zirkzee starts with a bang
Merely being brought on in the closing stages of the reverse fixture against Freiburg was certainly special enough for Joshua Zirkzee – and then this! With his first touch of the ball in the Bundesliga, the then 18-year-old put Bayern 2-1 in front to earn a late win. The Dutchman has now made nine Bundesliga outings in total, scoring four goals.
20.06.2020: Musiala becomes FCB’s youngest Bundesliga debutant
In the return match, it was Jamal Musiala’s turn. The England youth international came on for Thomas Müller in the 88th minute and became the German record champions’ youngest ever Bundesliga debutant at the age of 17 years and 115 days.
20.06.2020: Richards also makes debut against Freiburg
Just before that, Chris Richards had also come on for his debut in the top flight at the age of 20. The American has established himself as a key figure for the U23 side and has already scored four goals in the third division – not bad for a defender!
30.05.2020: Batista-Meier gets his chance against Düsseldorf
Oliver Batista-Meier got his first runout on the Bundesliga stage on Matchday 29 in the home match against Fortuna Düsseldorf, replacing Serge Gnabry in the 78th minute. Despite being just 19, the Germany youth international with Brazilian roots is already an integral part of Sebastian Hoeneß’s U23 squad.
14.12.2019: Singh becomes Bayern’s first New Zealander
In mid-December, Sarpreet Singh got to experience his first Bundesliga minutes in the home clash with Werder Bremen, becoming the first New Zealander to represent the FCB first team. The 21-year-old Kiwis international moved to Munich last summer and quickly impressed for the second string. That led to him training permanently with the first team, and he made his first start against Freiburg on Saturday.
It’s not just these five players who should give Bayern fans hope for the future. Leon Dajaku, who made his Bundesliga debut in 2018 for Stuttgart, has already featured for Hansi Flick’s side – and there are many other big talents working away at the FC Bayern Campus who could all follow the same path.
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