Bayern Munich already boast of having arguably the best goalkeeper in the world in Manuel Neuer, and they also seem to have recently found his heir apparent.
Christian Fruchtl is a 15 year old German goalkeeper who is 6 feet and 5 inches tall, wears size 14 boots, and is the youngest player to join a training camp conducted for the Bayern Munich senior team. The young German was selected to join Pep Guardiola and his men for a mid-season training camp in Qatar, and has quickly caught the eyes of numerous pundits and journalists, who think that he is the natural successor to 29-year-old Manuel Neuer.
“What are his main attributes? His size! I think I was one-and-a-half heads shorter than he is when I was 15.” Neuer was quoted as saying by BBC Sport.
“He’s got great co-ordination despite his height and big feet and the talent is definitely there with him.”
Fruchtl signed a contract for Bayern Munich in 2014 that is valid until June 30th 2018.
Goalkeepers of the future
The discovery of Fruchtl follows close on the heels of the success of Gianluigi Donnarumma at AC Milan. The 16-year-old Italian has found regular first team football at Milan, displacing experienced keeper Diego Lopez from the number one spot. And if it weren’t for the fact that Neuer is the best goalkeeper in the world right now, Fruchtl would surely have more chances in the first team, considering that they consider him good enough to train with the senior squad.
While the legendary Gianluigi Buffon and Manuel Neuer have set a high standard for goalkeepers to maintain in Italy and Germany. It looks like these two young starlets will be the ones to maintain those standards in the future.
