With the last squad, the German record champions lose at home to Mönchengladbach. For youngster Paul Wanner it is still an unforgettable evening: He is now the youngest Bundesliga player in Bayern.
AWhen his big moment came, he quickly straightened his gloves and sprinted onto the field. On that cold Friday evening in Munich, Paul Wanner became the youngest player to appear in the history of FC Bayern for its professional team.
In the 1: 2 (1: 2) against Borussia Mönchengladbach, coach Julian Nagelsmann replaced the teenager in the 75th minute for Marc Roca: Wanner had only turned 16 one day before Christmas Eve. He usually plays for the U19s of the German record champions and had already trained in the first team a few times.
Wanner is 16 years and 15 days old – in the history of the Bundesliga only Youssoufa Moukoko was younger (16 years and one day) when he made his debut. Jamal Musiala had been the youngest debutant in Munich so far (17 years and 115 days).
From Spain to Munich
It was an emergency contingent that Nagelsmann had to put together during the week for the game against Borussia. He missed nine players because they are or were infected with the corona virus.
So everything had to go very quickly on Thursday morning. From the training camp of the German U-17 national team in Spain, Wanner traveled to Munich with his 16-year-old club colleague Arijon Ibrahimovic in order to be able to train with the professionals on Säbener Strasse that morning. “That was a stressful journey,” said Nagelsmann before the game. “But I think that’s what you can expect from two 16-year-olds who are allowed to play or train for the professionals.”
Paul Wanner during the game against Gladbach
Source: AFP
You don’t always have to wrap teenagers in cotton wool, said Nagelsmann with a smile. Today they are driven and flown everywhere. As a youth player, I still had to buy my monthly ticket myself. They don’t even know that today – a monthly ticket. So everything is okay, you can manage that. “
Wanner and Ibrahimovic are “very talented players”, of whom he has a very good impression. Wanner is “of course very young, physically not yet fully developed.” also with a high level of confidence in its quality among the professionals. He is definitely a player that I have in mind that we need to promote in the future. “
Inconspicuous on the pitch
Against Mönchengladbach, Wanner, who came to Bayern from SV Ravensburg as a youth, didn’t have any outstanding actions, but he didn’t make any mistakes either. In the final phase of the game, he crossed dangerously into the Mönchengladbach penalty area.
It should not have been his last appearance for the Bayern professionals. “Every negative side always has a positive one,” says Nagelsmann. “The promotion of talented young players is one of these positive sides of the currently rather negative situation.”
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