Sydney (Reuters)
Bayern Munich, the giant of the German Football League, has signed the promising Australian player Nestori Irankunda from Adelaide United, with a long-term contract that begins in July next year after he turns 18 years old.
The speedy 17-year-old winger was born in a refugee camp in Tanzania to Burundian parents, before moving to Perth as an infant and then to Adelaide where he started playing.
Irankunda represented the Australian U-17 national team, and sat on the bench in two international friendly matches for the senior team this year, but did not participate.
Irankunda told the Australian League website: “It is unbelievable, and several teams expressed their interest and preferred to move to Bayern in the end, and there were some offers from the English Premier League, but my father said that he loves Bayern Munich. There was a picture of him in the refugee camp wearing Bayern Munich clothes. So I agreed to move to Germany to make him proud of me.”
Irankunda made his debut with Adelaide when he was 15 years old in January last year.
Although he participated mostly from the bench in his first season, a series of wonderful goals distinguished him as a special talent.
Jochen Sauer, director of the youth and youth sector at Bayern, said in a statement, “We have been following Nestori for a long time, and we cannot be happy with the agreement with Adelaide United regarding the player’s transfer to Munich next summer. Nestori is a very fast winger who is good at dribbling and finishing attacks. We are convinced of his potential and he will develop a lot with us.” ».
The two parties did not disclose the financial details of the deal.
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