Paul Wanner made his professional debut for FC Bayern in the second half of the Bundesliga restart fixture against Borussia Mönchengladbach. The attacking midfielder was substituted on for Marc Roca in the 75th minute. At just 16 years and 15 days, Wanner usurped Jamal Musiala (17 years, 115 days) as the youngest player to ever play in the Bundesliga for FC Bayern. In Bundesliga history, only Dortmund's Youssoufa Moukoko (16 years, 1 day) was younger on his debut.
From the U17 national team to the Allianz Arena
Paul Wanner came on in the 75th minute against Gladbach.
Wanner has had an extremely eventful few days. On Wednesday, he travelled with the German U17 to their winter training camp in Spain. But the next morning, he returned to Munich to take part in Bayern's final training session before their Bundesliga clash with Gladbach. On Friday evening, he came on for the final 15 minutes. Wanner had some superb moments, but in the end Bayern succumbed to a 2-1 defeat.
Julian Nagelsmann with both debutants on Friday evening - Lucas Copado (middle) and Paul Wanner.
Praise and important advice from Nagelsmann
"Paul is an outstanding talent with a lot of skill. He is still a very young player, physically he's not yet fully developed. He is very fast with an incredibly good technique," said Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann, describing the qualities of the left-footed player, who arrived at Bayern's academy from FV Ravensburg in the summer of 2018. "He has a lot of good ideas and good confidence in his ability. He's a player I have my eye on, who we have to nurture going forward."
The youngster was already able to show glimpses of his potential against Gladbach, but now he must continue to work hard in the youth teams so as to take the next step towards the first team at some point. He received an important piece of advice from the Bayern head coach in the post-match press conference: "He has to keep a clear head, and the door will be open for him," said Nagelsmann, tapping his forehead with his index finger: "It's all down to what's going on up here."
Despite the loss, Bayern equalled a record for goals in consecutive games on Friday:
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