The headline signing for the FC Bayern Campus this summer was Nestory Irankunda, who left Adelaide United for Bayern Munich in a deal that set the Bavarians back about €3 million. However, the tremendous talent and limitless potential that Irankunda displayed before the move made the transfer fee seem like a real bargain. He immediately joined first team training at Bayern and impressed in pre-season with the senior team before being sent back to the U-23s with Bayern II to gain more match practice.
Considering this proximity with the first team, Irankunda hopes he will make the first team squad in a competitive match this season: “I’ll hopefully be on the bench at least – it’s gonna be a great achievement for me. I’m training with the first team every day, so I’m learning new things every day as well. So hopefully I get a chance soon.
[I will do] just the same that I always do – go back, work hard, perform, try and get minutes. That’s about it. I enjoy the life there, it’s nice. It’s different to back home – all on my own so try to make the most of it.”
He will need to keep working hard to reach his goal, however. At the time of writing, Nestory Irankunda has been dropped from the starting lineup of Bayern II’s last two Regionalliga Bayern games in the wake of some inconsistent performances. It is nothing to worry about, as all young players go through such phases, but it does indicate that the Australian wonderkid still has a ways to go to reach the level of the Bayern first team. It will take Irankunda maintaining his attitude of hard work and persistence to reach his goal this season.
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