Bayern Munich signing of Nestory Irankunda is a ‘turning point’ for Australian football

Nestory Irankunda is still a teenager but he is already the type of athlete who leaves an indelible impression on football fans the first time they see him in action.

For Adelaide United coach Carl Veart, it took only one watch of Irankunda in an under-18s match for local side the Raiders to realise he was witnessing a special talent.

Swarv Kania, who coached the under-10s at Parafield Gardens in Adelaide’s north, was blown away when he saw Irankunda kicking a football around with his brothers.

“We had to have him on my team. I walked up and asked him if he was playing at the time and he said ‘no’ and I just said ‘sign up for me, play with me’,” Kania said.

“I just put him in midfield and he did what he did, he dribbled past the whole team.

“In some tough games we had, I would put him in defence and he would absolutely clean up everything at the back and even dribble past the whole team and score from there.”

But it wasn’t just Australia who were impressed by his abilities: the wider football world also took notice.

Irankunda’s skills are now ready to be released onto the international scene after signing with powerful German club Bayern Munichwhich includes among its players the English striker Harry Kane.

Veart is very clear about the calibre of players the Bundesliga will be recruiting, highlighting Irankunda’s speed and power.

“He’s also very good technically and his ball striking is exceptional and we saw that with his goal here a few weeks ago,” he said.

“I get excited when I see him play according to his instincts. I never gave Nestor much information, other than playing football.”

After months of speculation, Bayern have confirmed the signing of the 17-year-old who, due to FIFA’s global transfer rules, cannot move abroad until he turns 18 next year.

Adelaide United chief executive Nathan Kosmina would not confirm a figure in the millions but said the transfer fee was a record for the Reds.

“Few players his age have the same hype and success as him.”

“A turning point” for the A-League

Football analyst and former Adelaide United forward Bruce Djite, who at one point in his career was transferred to Turkey, believes the signing of Irankunda is not only “a very big deal” but also a significant step forward for the code in Australia.

“There are players who have been to Bayern Munich before, I think – Sarpreet Singh, he was at Wellington Phoenix, he went to Bayern a few years ago.

“So it’s not unprecedented, but they are very rare.”

Irankunda is explosive on the pitch but spoke very quietly at a packed press conference to discuss his move to Munich.

“It’s a top club and my dad supported them, so I chose them,” he revealed.

Irankunda was born in Tanzania and moved to Adelaide in 2013 with his family.

His father was pictured wearing Bayern Munich football kit at a refugee camp before they left.

Bayern Munich will welcome him to their doors next July.

“We had Nestory on our radar for some time; Nestory is an extremely quick winger, a powerful dribbler and finisher with a good drive towards goal,” said the club’s youth development director Jochen Sauer.

So how does a teenager deal with such a big move to a foreign country?

“They’ll put him in their home for the first 12 months so he doesn’t have to worry about cleaning, cooking, all that other stuff,” Veart explained.

“They will really look after him, they are one of the biggest clubs in the world, they have a great history of developing young players and I think that is another reason why Nestor and the club have gone down this route with Bayern.”

Despite his undeniable talent, there are no guarantees, with Kosmina explaining why the deal took so long to be agreed with the German club.

“The A-League has a bit of a checkered history of players coming back relatively quickly and there’s nothing wrong with that,” he said.

“We want to make sure we do everything we can to prepare players for success and Bayern was the right destination for Nestory.”

Then there is the question of temperament, with Irankunda having been baited and targeted by A-League defenders over the past 12 months and recently being sent off for protesting not being awarded a free-kick.

“He still has a long way to go to become a consistent and proven player, who is not temperamental, who does not receive red cards or violent blows and who simply continues his game, that comes with maturity,” Djite said.

“Be excited, but let’s not put the future of Australian football on this kid’s shoulders.”

For now, he will play the current domestic season with Adelaide, where he has scored nine goals in 38 games.

And the club say he will play alongside potential young stars.

“We have an exceptional group of young players coming through at the moment, Nestory is the best of them,” Kosmina said.

“We are not looking to sell players, we are trying to develop them.”

Part of Veart’s mission, working with the club’s youth director, Airton Andrioli, is to identify and nurture talent.

This group of budding stars includes striker Musa Toure, midfielder Jonny Yull and defender Alex Popovic.

“We want to develop our young players, particularly young South Australians, and provide them with a platform on which they can express themselves,” Veart said.