Bayern Munich sign New Zealand youngster Sarpreet Singh
Bayern Munich have completed the signing of 20-year-old New Zealand international Sarpreet Singh from Wellington Phoenix.
Singh enjoyed a breakout 2018/19 A-League season for the Phoenix, scoring five goals and chipping in with eight assists, and has already been capped four times at senior international level by New Zealand.
The left-footed attacking midfielder has signed a three-year deal and will be assigned to the Bayern reserves initially. He could become the first player of Indian descent and first New Zealander to represent the club.
"Words cannot describe how I'm feeling right now but I'm extremely excited for this opportunity to develop myself further here in Munich and represent my country and New Zealand football," Singh wrote on his Instagram account.
Bayern academy director Jochen Sauer was equally pleased the Reds' newest arrival: "In Sarpreet we've recruited a technically gifted and very talented attacking midfielder. We're very happy he decided to join Bayern."
Singh reportedly caught the attention of Bayern after an impressive showing at the 2019 FIFA Under-20 World Cup. He scored one goal in his four appearances as the All Whites reached the last 16, where they lost to Colombia on penalties. The Auckland native is regarded as the most promising player to come out of Phoenix since Marco Rojas, who spent three years in Germany with VfB Stuttgart and Greuther Fürth between 2013 and 2016.
"Sarpreet's a special player," Singh's mentor and former Onehunga Sports coach, Hiroshi Miyazawa, told www.stuff.co.nz. "He has been since he was seven or eight-years-old, when he turned up to our environment. But if someone asked me if I saw him playing for Bayern Munich one day I would still say no. It's just that Bayern Munich are a very special club. They can sign anyone in the world if they want to, but they chose to sign Sarpreet, which means a lot."
Singh is currently in Austria, having already linked up with the Bayern reserves for pre-season training. Bayern's second team will play in Germany's third tier in 2019/20, having gained promotion from the Regionalliga after winning a play-off against Wolfsburg's reserves at the end of May.
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