The German record champions are decimated by corona infections and are using players from their own youth. At the beginning of the second half of the season, two 16-year-olds could make their professional debut. t-online introduces the two.
When FC Bayern starts the second half of the Bundesliga against Borussia Mönchengladbach tonight, two 16-year-olds will sit on the bench of the record champions. Because the team of coach Julian Nagelsmann is groaning under the corona infections of its big stars, has with difficulty managed to get the necessary number of players together in order not to miss the game entirely.
And so Arijon Ibrahimovic and Paul Wanner could actually make their professional debut. Coach Julian Nagelsmann hurriedly ordered the two talents back from the DFB training camp in Spain (read more about the crazy return trip here), as a reward for the hasty action, the first few minutes in the Bundesliga could beckon.
But who are the two teenagers? t-online presents them.
Arijon Ibrahimovic:
The 16-year-old will already be used to allusions to his colorful family name, but he has to endure them again at the moment. “FC Bayern gets Ibrahimovic” and similar creative thigh knockers make the big round through the editorial offices. But the attacking midfielder is a long way from the caprices of his namesake, who is 24 years older than him, only the Bosnian origins he has in common with the primeval Sweden. Born in Nuremberg, he became the German record champion in 2018 at the age of 12, having already worked in the youth departments at the “Club” (2014-18) and previously at Greuther Fürth. “Later on, I would like to become a professional footballer, but that will take some time,” said Ibrahimovic once in Nuremberg, “by then I want to play well with the team and score a lot of goals.”
Even if the eloquence of the eight-year-old at the time was possibly thanks to a busy editor of the club’s website, scoring goals is currently also working at Bayern: In a total of 20 competitive games in 2021/22 for the U17 and U19, Ibrahimovic scored 9 goals and prepared 13 more Hit forward. Ibrahimovic is seen as an offensively versatile player who has moved from the striker further back into midfield over the younger years and can attack both centrally and over the wings – but is also not too bad for defensive work. Parallels are often drawn to Bayern star Leon Goretzka.
Wolf instead of tiger or lion
“We have a very good impression of him,” said Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann. “Ari is a very good attacking player, his qualities are clearly in one-on-one situations. He can dribble very well.” Ibrahimovic was allowed to train with the big stars last summer and got a chance from Nagelsmann. In the unit, the youngster reportedly played carefree, did not shy away from duels with the humorless defending Dayot Upamecano – and even scored a goal in the end. A good six months later, Ibrahimovic is at least one step further.
Ibrahimovic indicated in May 2021 that the constant questions about the great namesake can also blow a child’s stomach: “The tiger and the lion may be stronger. But the wolf does not perform in the circus,” he wrote on Instagram for a photo. And so it was very close to Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Paul Wanner:
Actually everything is normal, right? The fact that the 16-year-old from the tranquil Amtzell in Upper Swabia suddenly knocks on the door of the FC Bayern professionals is almost a matter of course – because Paul Wanner has been developing faster than his peers for years. Even at his ex-club SV Ravensburg, the highly talented always played an age group higher, quoted the SWR Wanners youth leader at the time, Wolfgang Grünhagel. And anyway, his former protégé is “an amazing talent”.
Paul Wanner: The midfielder likes to come over the wings. (Source: Eibner / imago images)
Ravensburg or Munich – in the Bavarian capital, Wanner picked up where he left off in the “Gate to the Allgäu”: speed up. Just three years after switching to the record champions, the attacker was promoted to U19 in the summer of 2021 – at the age of 15. There he now also plays with Ibrahimovic, whirling in the attack of the youth of the “Reds”. He was “a left-footer with a lot of good ideas, also with a good confidence in his quality among the professionals”, described Nagelsmann Wanner’s abilities. “He’s definitely a player that I have in mind that we need to promote in the future.”
Attacking duo with Ibrahimovic
17 games this season, three goals, three assists – Wanner is also convincing in Bayern’s U19, is just as versatile as Ibrahimovic, who is of the same age, and recently played a wingtip with his DFB colleague at Munich under coach Danny Galm.
Before Nagelsmann’s urgent appointment, Ibrahmovic and Manner were together with the German U19 national team in a training camp in Spain. Then it went back to Munich in an adventurously fast journey. Maybe to be used today. But Paul Wanner is used to speed.
.
ttn-10