How Ismael Saibari enriches FC Bayern's play

Ismael Saibari has been at FC Bayern for two weeks! The new signing who joined from PSV Eindhoven trained individually after sustaining a muscle injury at the World Cup. The 25-year-old took up team training this week. "My teammates gave me a great welcome, everyone's very nice to me, the staff too. I've recovered well, I'm back in full team training,” Saibari said at his official unveiling on Friday.

Saibari had caught the eye of the footballing elite with his outstanding performances at the World Cup, but FC Bayern had already had their sights set on the forward. "We've known Ismael for some time. The final real sign that he was the right player for FC Bayern was the match against us,” commented board member for sport Max Eberl. The Moroccan had levelled the scores and impressed in every regard in FC Bayern’s Champions Leaue match at PSV in January, a 2-1 victory. “He caused problems again and again with his style, physicality, presence, pace and versatility. He's got something special,” added Eberl.

The key statements from the press conference:

“We continued to watch him closely. At some point it was clear we wanted to make a move in attack,” Eberl said. The moves of Nathaniel Brown and Saibari “show we want to increase our flexibility with players who can play in different positions and add something new to our play, something we perhaps didn’t quite have last season.” It was clear Saibari “was a top candidate for us. Thankfully it worked out.”

Saibari, who is versatile up front, said he had a good feeling about the move to Munich from the start: “Bayern is one of the biggest clubs in the world. They've given me the confidence that I can develop as a player and person here." Bayern’s play under head coach Vincent Kompany suits him very well: “They play with a lot of movement and high intensity. I saw that myself last season. They play very good football, it’s always intense, they always look for finishes. I like that a lot.”

Language talent with a special background

Saibari owes his rise in his football career mostly to his parents, he said at his unveiling: “I had problems with my feet when I was born. My parents made a lot of sacrifices so that I could walk properly and lead a normal life. I'm very grateful for that. I'm also a devout Muslim, I believe in God and that this was part of his plan,” said the language talent (he speaks English, French, Spanish, Arabic and Dutch) who wants to learn German as soon as possible and make his mark on the pitch for his new club.

The new signing profiled: