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Bayern’s new signing was beaming as he stepped off his flight on Wednesday morning. Ismael Saibari had just touched down in Munich to get a first look at his new home and place of work at Säbener Straße. It had been two weeks since the Morocco international – fresh from reaching the quarter-finals of the World Cup – signed his contract with Bayern at the club’s offices in New York. Now he got his first taste of the Bavarian capital.
“I’m really excited about the Allianz Arena. I’ve never played there before. The first time will definitely be special,” the 25-year-old had said upon signing in the Big Apple. He didn’t get to visit Bayern’s iconic home on his flying visit on Wednesday, but Saibari and his family got to take a look around the club’s training ground and meet some of the staff.
Three goals at the World Cup
Born in Spain but raised in Belgium, Saibari was one of Morocco’s standout performers at the World Cup in North America, scoring a goal in all three group games against Brazil, Scotland and Haiti. The versatile attacker also netted the decisive penalty in the Atlas Lions’ shootout win over the Netherlands in the round of 32. He started the 3-0 victory over co-hosts Canada but had to miss the 2-0 loss to France in the quarter-finals through injury.
However, Bayern’s interest in the PSV Eindhoven man stemmed from well before those performances on the world stage. “The key thing is that we positioned ourselves early with him, because we knew about Ismael’s abilities and were able to show him a concrete perspective with us from the start,” explained board member for sport Max Eberl.
Vincent Kompany will welcome his squad back for pre-season training next week, bit Saibari won’t yet be part of the group. The new signing is still on his well-deserved holidays and will return to Munich at a later date to really kick off his Bayern adventure.
You can already get your Saibari shirt in the Online Store here!
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