"We won't hold Alphonso Davies back" - Bayern Munich coach Niko Kovac
Canadian teenager Alphonso Davies may not have to wait long to make his competitive Bayern Munich debut, according to head coach Niko Kovac.
Davies, 18, will officially join Bayern when the winter transfer window opens on 1 January 2019, but spent a few weeks training with the record German champions prior to the winter break, and from what Kovac has seen the former Vancouver Whitecaps winger has the qualities needed to break into the side.
"If I compare him with our U23s, then he is already ahead of the others," Kovac said recently. "He has to acclimatise, that's clear. But he has quality and we will not slow him down if he can help us."
Kovac also admitted that he has "not yet seen the best" of Davies, while Bayern sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic said: "He's a huge talent, but he's young and needs time to get used to the speed and tempo of playing in the Bundesliga. We'll give him all the time he needs to settle."
Davies scored eight goals and registered 10 assists in 31 MLS appearances in his final season in Vancouver, and was recently voted Canada Soccer's 2018 Male Player of the Year. Earlier in his career, he made history as the first player born in the 2000s to play in the MLS - aged just 15 years, eight months and 15 days - and the youngest to play and score for the Canada national team.
Davies, who only turned 18 in November, will travel to Doha, Qatar for Bayern's upcoming winter training camp. The prodigious teen could make his Bundesliga debut as soon as 18 January, when the defending champions - six points behind leaders Borussia Dortmund at the halfway stage - travel to the Wirsol Rhein-Neckar-Arena to take on Hoffenheim.
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