The senior team may still be enjoying vacation, but preparations for the new season are already nearing their end at the Bayern Munich campus. Bayern’s U-23 team, Bayern II, wrapped up their list of friendlies with a 1-3 loss to Regionalliga Southwest club SG Sonnenhof Großaspach. Star transfer Benno Schmitz scored the only goal for the Bavarians. More news on the game can be found here.
One player who is not there to support Bayern II anymore is Ritzy Hülsmann. The 21-year-old, rather famously standing
at a giant 2 meters (0r 6’7”, in inches), was on loan in the Austrian second division club at SKN St. Pölten last year. This year, he is taking the step up to the first division of Austrian football...permanently. TSV Hartberg confirmed, via their official website, that Hülsmann signed a contract until 2027 at the club, with an option for another year.
Bayern released their own announcement of the transfer, on their own website, where it was hinted that Hülsmann’s story at Bayern may not be done yet: “Ritzy has developed very well during his year in St. Pölten, both as a goalkeeper and as a person,” Campus director Jochen Sauer said. “He deserves the next step to a first-division club! We will monitor his future and his performances very closely.” Did Bayern perhaps attach a buy back clause? Sell on clause? This would not be the first time Bayern attached a clause to a player sale and did not include it in their department announcement.
Given Bayern also loaned Maximilian Hennig to Hartberg, it is possible that Bayern are building a partnership with the Austrian club. Chairman Erich Korherr hinted at it in the announcement of Hülsmann’s signing: “We would like to thank the management at FC Bayern Munich, especially at the campus, for the excellent cooperation.” How far the cooperation extends is, for now, not known to the public.
In the same article as the Hülsmann departure announcement, Bayern reported on their U-19 teams’ participation in the Bundesliga Cup. This pre-season tournament, consisting of 3 group stage matches, a semi-final and a final, hosted 9 teams in total. Unsurprisingly, Lennart Karl was the star man for the U-19s, but he could not prevent the team from falling to VfB Stuttgart in the final. Bayern’s website sums up the results:
The U19s narrowly missed winning the Bundesliga Cup, which lasted several days in Schwäbisch Hall. After matches against SC Freiburg (1-1), Hertha BSC (0-0), and Eintracht Frankfurt (2-0), Gaydarov’s team advanced to the semifinals, where they defeated TSG Hoffenheim (1-0) on Sunday. The Munich team lost to VfB Stuttgart in the final. In addition to Lennart Karl, who scored two goals and provided two assists, Leonard Prescott also made a name for himself and was named the tournament’s best goalkeeper.
Leonard Prescott is a 15-year-old U-16 Germany international who did not play a single minute all season for the U-17s and only made the bench a handful of times. It is likely that he will not retain his role as U-19 goalkeeper next season, but some fans may remember that he has already been called up to first team training by head coach Vincent Kompany. The club clearly has a lot of faith in him and he showed exactly why during the tournament. To excel against players three or four years older than you is quite a feat. The Bayern Campus twitter account also showed a short video of his best moments of the tournament here.
More from bavarianfootballworks.com:
- A forgettable international match day for all Bayern Munich players involved
- Czech Republic vs Germany lineup, discussion: Time, TV schedule and how to watch World Cup Qualifiers online
- ‘What about Thomas Müller?' Support pours in for Bayern Munich's troubled icon
- BFW Transfer Deadline Day 2017 live thread
- Kingsley Coman confident of his part in Bayern Munich’s plans this season
- Report: Renato Sanches set for loan move to Swansea
- Would this guy be the perfect backup for Robert Lewandowski?
