FC Bayern Forum

31.08.2006

Stephan Fürstner celebrates a birthday in just under two weeks. The club youth product will be 19 on 11 September, and the only present the youngster had been hoping for was a place in the matchday squad for Bayern's Champions League meeting with Spartak Moscow the following day.

Unfortunately, this perfect state of affairs was not to be, as the player who signed his first professional contract in the summer is currently sidelined for 14 days with a torn muscle. The youngest member of the senior squad has time on his hands, part of which he used to sit down with fcbayern.de and cast an eye over his first eight weeks as a professional footballer.

"I'm very satisfied so far from a personal point of view," he declared. "Apart from this minor injury, it's gone very well. But I don't think this will knock me out of my stride." The highlights of his early days as a pro were places in the squad for the League Cup semi-final against Schalke and the friendly in Barcelona, and especially the warm-up match in Tokyo when he came on for a debut appearance. "That was a fantastic experience," he related.

Discovered on USA tour

At the end of last season, the idea of signing professional forms at the club remained a distant dream for Fürstner, who only switched from the senior youth side to Hermann Gerland's reserves during the winter break last term.

His ambition to make it in the professional game first took concrete shape when a rump first-team squad set off for a post-season tour of the USA in late May. Fürstner was called in to help make up the numbers, but created such a good impression that Uli Hoeneß offered him a contract on the flight back to Europe. "He's amazingly talented," the general manager observed.

Match practice in third division

Since that fateful day, Fürstner has trained with the first team under Felix Magath during the week - "it's tremendous, I'm learning so much" - while turning out for the reserves at the weekend, where he knows he has assumed special status. "They watch me more closely, but that just inspires me to do even better."

"I'd like a couple of run-outs for the first team, and to perform well for the reserves," the 18-year-old revealed as he surveyed the rest of his first season as a pro. Magath has advised the youngster "to spend his first season getting used to the physical demands of the professional game."

Help from Scholl and Co

Young Stephan has been the beneficiary of extra help from some of the most experienced players in the squad, including Mehmet Scholl, Hasan Salihamidzic and Roy Makaay. "They've not forgotten what it was like when they were young. The senior professionals really keep an eye out for we newcomers." Fürstner is certainly a real prospect for the future. "The lad's coming along tremendous," Magath remarked back in late July.