Bayern's new signing Saibari hopes to make his debut in the friendly against RB

Bayern Munich’s new signing, Ismael Saibari, has declared himself fit following the injury he sustained at the World Cup and is hoping to make his debut for the Munich club right at the start of the season. “I’m doing well. I’ve been with the team for a few weeks now and am back in full training,” the Moroccan said during his official presentation. When asked whether he would be able to play in the record-holding champions’ friendly against RB Leipzig on Saturday (3:30 p.m./MagentaTV), the 25-year-old replied: “I still need to talk to the doctors about that.”

FC Bayern signed the national team player from PSV Eindhoven for a reported transfer fee of around 55 million euros and gave him a five-year contract through 2031. He is expected to give the Munich team even more flexibility on offense. “I can play multiple positions—it doesn’t matter,” Saibari replied when asked about his preferred role.

No fixed position

“During a game, you switch positions so often anyway—whether on the left or the right—that it really doesn’t matter,” the forward added. He hasn’t yet had a specific conversation with coach Vincent Kompany about where the coach plans to use him. “I’ve been focused on my injury and my comeback lately.” However, he expects to discuss the matter in more detail with the coach in the coming days.

Saibari suffered a thigh injury during the World Cup in North America in the Round of 16 against Canada (3–0). As a result, he had to sit out the quarterfinal against France (0–2). Prior to that, he had been one of the stars of the North African team and had scored three goals.

Saibari hopes to continue developing “as a player and as a person”

When asked why he decided to join FC Bayern, he replied: “Because it’s one of the biggest clubs in the world—that much is clear. And their style of play suits me well. Here, they give you the confidence to develop further as a player and as a person.”