Next Bayern departure sure?
Homegrown before change
Created: 03/02/2022 11:47 am
By: Antonio Jose Riether
He trained with the Bayern pros under Pep Guardiola when he was just 15 years old. After two years of setbacks, Christian Früchtl now wants to leave FCB.
Munich – When Bayern traveled to the winter training camp in Qatar in January 2016, the then Bayern coach Pep Guardiola* caused a surprise.
The only 15-year-old goalkeeper Christian Früchtl* was allowed to show himself in the emirate and thus became known to the general public early on.
After six years, the now 22-year-old is still under contract with FC Bayern*, but things don't seem to be going up.
That's why the goalkeeper now wants a change.
FC Bayern: Früchtl won the third division championship with the reserves - loan to Nuremberg became a nightmare
Due to his height of over 1.90 meters, shoe size 50 and especially his young age, the goalkeeper talent from the Bavarian Forest drew attention to himself early on.
In the years after his first training camp with the pros, Früchtl went through both the U17s and the U19s of the record champions*, he also played a total of 66 games for the reserves and quite surprisingly became champions in the summer of 2020 as a promoted third division.
However, the hype after the title was short-lived.
After the 2019/20 season, Früchtl should go up the career ladder and so the long-standing youth national goalkeeper was loaned to the second Bundesliga.
At 1. FC Nürnberg* he was supposed to gain match practice at a higher level, but the experiment failed across the board.
Früchtl never managed to oust regular keeper Christian Mathenia from the box and so he had to watch from the substitutes' bench as the club ended up in eleventh place after a mixed season.
Without a single mission, we returned to the state capital.
FC Bayern: Früchtl not an option as a new replacement – change possible this summer
In the current season, things are not going much better for the former hopeful, who was only able to play two regional league games for the Bayern amateurs due to a broken collarbone.
As a third keeper, he is still part of the professional squad, but was not a serious option for the Bundesliga starting XI even during Manuel Neuer's recent absence.
As
Sport1
now reports, Früchtl is probably considering leaving in the summer.
In the coming weeks, the association will meet with the representatives of the keeper from Bischofsmais for "first talks" with interested parties from Germany and abroad.
According to information from the sports broadcaster, "two second division clubs with promotion ambitions" are said to have shown interest in Früchtl - who has been in Munich since 2014 - but he broke his collarbone and extended his contract with FCB until 2023.
In view of Früchtl's recent developments, a departure this year is more likely than staying until the end of the contract.
Three seasons without a game would see him dropping further and further from the pro level, so an extra year wouldn't be beneficial.
Most recently, a great talent from FC Bayern extended his contract*, while another joined a Bundesliga club*.
(ajr)