Defensive specialist with a nose for goals
Wed, 01/07/20, 17:10
Meet Bayern's new signing Tanguy Nianzou
With the signing of Tanguy Nianzou, FC Bayern have landed a real coup, for the 18-year-old Frenchman is not only for board member for sport Hasan Salihamidžić "one of the best players in Europe from the 2002 generation". His former coach, Thomas Tuchel, also predicted the central defender would have a "great future with Paris Saint Germain". fcbayern.com introduces the new kid on the block.
Trained at Paris Saint-Germain
Nianzou made his professional debut this season with Paris Saint-Germain and even scored three goals.
The 1.87-metre tall defender, whose full name is Tanguy Nianzou Kouassi but who prefers to be called Nianzou, was born in Paris on 7 June 2002 and has both French and Ivorian citizenship. After taking his first steps in football with a number of Parisian suburban clubs, he joined PSG's youth academy at the age of 14. There he quickly attracted attention, including from the first team coach.
We accompanied Nianzou on his first few days in Munich. Enjoy clicking through the photos:
Defensive specialist who can score goals
At the age of 17 years and six months, Nianzou made his Ligue 1 debut on 7 December 2019 with Thomas Tuchel's side, and just a few days later he was already playing in the Champions League. Despite his age and some notable competition in the PSG squad, Nianzou has made 13 competitive appearances this season, two of them in Europe's premier competition. He proved he's not only defensively oriented, among other things, with his brace in the league match against Amiens SC.
First professional contract of his career with FCB
In Paris Nianzou was still playing with an U23 contract, and now he has penned his first professional contract.
That helped the newly-crowned French champion to come under the spotlight of numerous European top clubs, and he ultimately chose the German record champions. "I want to get on, also with regard to my development. Bayern were the right choice," said the Frenchman at the press conference on Wednesday after signing the first professional contract of his career.
Technically adept, strong in the air and flexible
"We scouted him for a long time and tried everything to bring him to Munich. We're very happy we were able to convince Tanguy to come," said Salihamidžić, pleased that he was able to sign the French youth international (3rd place at the 2019 U-17 World Cup, among other things) on a free transfer. The new signing, who names World Cup winner Lilian Thuram as his role model, impresses above all as a playmaker with very good technique and, with his height, he's also extremely strong in the air. Thanks to his flexibility, "he fits perfectly into the requirement profile of our team," continued Salihamidžić.
Read here the press release heralding Tanguy's arrival:
Topics of this article