Bayern Munich teenager Oliver Batista-Meier sets sights on first team
'Batista' is a huge name in the sports entertainment business, but Bayern Munich could soon have their own version of 'The Animal' to unleash on the Bundesliga if youth player Oliver Batista-Meier has his way.
The 18-year-old, who shares a name with four-time WWE World Heavyweight champion and Hollywood star, Dave Bautista - known as 'Batista' in the squared circle - is currently fighting his way back from a serious ankle injury sustained on UEFA Youth League duty in November.
Although Batista-Meier isn't expected to return to action for at least another three weeks, the prodigious attacking midfielder has set himself the goal of breaking into the first team by the end of the 2018/19 campaign.
"The rehab is going really well," the Bayern youth player told German tabloid BILD. "My aim for the end of the season is to have a few first-team appearances under my belt."
Whether he makes it this season or next, Batista-Meier clearly has a big future at Bayern.
The record champions acquired the then 15-year-old from Kaiserslautern in July 2016, and - after he plundered 33 goals for the U17s and U19s last term alone - recently handed the half Brazilian, half German a new long-term deal.
"Oliver is a big talent," commented Bayern sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic at the time. "We are very happy that we could tie him to the club long term. Our aim is to develop him further."
Before his injury, Batista-Meier had featured heavily in all competitions for Bayern's U19s, registering four goals and five assists in 12 appearances. He also turned out once for the reserves in Germany’s fourth tier, and was part of the senior squad that toured the USA in summer 2018.
And just to ram home his credentials, Batista-Meier was awarded a silver Fritz Walter Medal as one of the best three U17 players in Germany in 2018, and latterly made it into English publication The Guardian's 60-strong watch list of young world football talents born in 2001.
YouTube viewers, brace yourselves for a new kind of 'Batista Bomb'...
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