Bayern Munich’s announcement that they had signed Bara Sapoko Ndiaye (Bara for short) on loan from Red&Gold partners from Gambinos Stars Africa until the end of the 2025/26 season, it was met with mixed reactions. Nobody really knew which position he plays in. Or his history. There had been no rumors prior to the official transfer being announced. It was another signing of a talented youngster, the kind that Bayern make multiple per year. But usually those youngsters are dropped into one of the Bavarians’
youth teams.
That is not the case for Bara.
Given he is a Senegal citizen and therefore a non-EU player, Bara is not eligible to play for Die Rekordmeister‘s youth teams. Either he plays for the first team or not at all. The dynamic midfielder may go on loan to another team’s senior side if Bayern were to sign Bara permanently, but he could not line up for a single European club’s youth teams. Bayern knew this, however. Apparently, Bayern’s board menber for sport Max Eberl, Red&Gold (as well as Bayern campus) director Jochen Sauer and sporting director Christoph Freund all have a very, very high opinion of the Senegalese midfielder.
According to Florian Plettenberg, they will immediately introduce Bara to head coach Vincent Kompany’s senior team:
FC Bayern’s plan for Bara Sapoko Ndiaye (known simply as Bara): train under Vincent Kompany from January and there is a very real possibility of him also getting minutes with the first team. Permanent move in the summer is possible, potentially followed by an immediate loan. Grasshopper Club Zürich are a potential destination via Red&Gold project. The 18 y/o Bara is regarded as a major talent by Eberl/Sauer/Freund. He is a box-to-box No. 8 – not a striker.
A knock on effect of this transfer could be that other young midfielders could lose out on playing time. It is very likely unlikely that either Leon Goretzka or Tom Bischof would lose game time to the youngster, but other talented midfielder hoping to force their way into the first time- Javier Fernández and Felipe Chávez come to mind- may lose out on any opportunities to make their breakthrough.
