One of Australian football’s brightest prospects, Nestory Irankunda has signed with German giants Bayern Munich from Adelaide United for an undisclosed fee but reported to be in the region of £3m ($5.7m AUD) plus add-ons.
The 17-year-old had been heavily linked with the Bavarian powerhouse for some time and will join the decorated club on a long-term deal after the conclusion of the 2023/24 A-League Men's season.
FIFA regulations stipulate international transfers of players are only permitted over the age of 18 unless certain exceptions are met.
Tweet: https://twitter.com/fcbayerncampus/status/1724359077122166930
Irankunda's meteoric rise garnered substantial interest abroad with several clubs purportedly monitoring his situation.
Ultimately, though it was the record 33-time Bundesliga champions who were the constant favourites and eventually won the race to secure his signature.
The sum reportedly involved smashes the previous A-Leagues transfer record set by Marco Tilio and his move to Celtic FC for most expensive outgoing signing.
The teen sensation burst onto the scene in January 2022, becoming the second youngest scorer in A-League Men’s history.
Having started his professional games this season, Irankunda had already built a reputation of impacting matches off the bench with his scintillating pace, dribbling prowess, and ferocious shooting ability to salvage points for his team of his own boot.
Tweet: https://twitter.com/FootballAUS/status/1670740166103949314
The prodigy was also called-up to the Subway Socceroos by Head Coach Graham Arnold for the March friendlies against Ecuador, as a learning exercise.
Irankunda also impressed with the Subway Joeys at the AFC U-17 Asian Cup Thailand 2023™ back in June and scored three goals - a brace against China PR and one against Japan - as Brad Maloney's side reached the Quarter Finals.
Tweet: https://twitter.com/FootballAUS/status/1578979316238458881
After agreeing to put pen-to-paper with Bayern, Irankunda said via Adelaide United's website: “I’m happy to have this all finalised and to be heading to one of the best clubs in the world — it’s a real dream come true.
“I’ve worked hard to try and make my family proud.
“It’s going to be great to be able to see out the season with Adelaide United and try and have some success.
“I’ve been with the Club for three or four years now and I’m really grateful to have had such a loving and respectful environment since I’ve been here.
“The coaches have looked after me and taught me so much, my teammates have always had my back and the members and fans have been so good to me, so I hope to be able to help repay that before I move.”
Jochen Sauer, director of youth development at Bayern stated: "We've had Nestory on our radar for some time and we're pleased we've reached an agreement with him and Adelaide United on a move to Munich for next summer.
"We'd like to thank the United management for the good talks. Nestory is an extremely quick winger, a strong dribbler and finisher with good drive towards goal. We're convinced by his potential and that he will take the next steps with us."
Irankunda has scored a total of nine goals in 39 appearances for the South Australians.
