Barcelona plan to poach Bayern Munich wonderkid
FT Desk
- Updated: 1 May 2022 19:56 BST
- 3 min read
Barcelona could be set to poach Bayern Munich wonderkid Kenan Yildiz with the 17-year-old out of contract at the end of the season.
Yildiz has impressed for Bayern's under-19 side this term, registering five goal involvements from his attacking midfield position, and many at the club think he can make the transition to the first team seamlessly.
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However, Bayern paid Slaven Belupo €1.8m to acquire Lovro Zvonarek, a Croatia youth international who plays in the same position as Yildiz, in September, and the youngster could now pursue his career elsewhere with his position under threat.
Mundo Deportivo report that Bayern have been trying to pin Yildiz down to a longer-term deal, but that he has been reluctant to put pen to paper since Zvonarek arrived.
Unclear path to Bayern's first team
The fact that Zvonarek plays in the same position as Yildiz is one concern, but so is the amount of money spent on his competitor, with Bayern likely to back Zvonarek after such an outlay.
The path to Bayern's first team is further blocked with the recent emergence of Jamal Musiala. The former England youth international, now capped for Germany, is the first understudy for Thomas Müller, and Müller recently secured his record 11th Bundesliga title.
Yildiz's contract will expire at the beginning of July, and Barcelona will be keen to point to the recent examples of Pedri and Gavi as players who have thrived in their first team having initially turned out for Barca B.
Bayern have a recent history of losing players to Spanish football on free transfers in recent seasons, with David Alaba following Toni Kroos to Real Madrid on the conclusion of his contract at the start of the season.
Same agent as Ferran Torres
Yildiz also has the same agent as Ferran Torres, who brokered the Spain attacker's move to Barcelona from Manchester City in the winter, so communication between player and club is already easily facilitated.
Yildiz is youth international with Turkey having been born in the German town of Regensburg. He would be the second German-speaker on Barca's books after goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
