Taylor Booth speaks about his decision to come to Bayern Munich

New Bayern Munich youth signee, Taylor Booth, was back in the United States with Bayern’s U23 team for a friendly against FC Dallas. The Utah native sat down for a detailed interview with AmericanSoccerNow.com about he landed with FC Bayern.

I had a bunch of different options with a bunch of teams in a bunch of different countries. For me, I always wanted to play in Europe and that was my goal. I went on a few trials in Germany and Germany is super-good for young players, specifically young American players because it is easier to adapt and for paperwork. For me I was interested in that. After the trials, the best option for me was Bayern. I am really happy with that.

Booth was also asked how he was adapting to a new country.

So far it’s been great. Everyone on the team has accepted me. For me, I’ve been living alone since I was 14 years old. The jump to Germany wasn’t as much of a change for me in terms of being away from home. Of course there are cultural things that are different but being out of the country for me hasn’t been too difficult. I’ve been studying German for a year. I wouldn’t say it’s great but it’s coming [laughs].

When he said that he has lived alone since he was 14 years old, he was alluding to his time at Real Salt Lake’s Academy. He spoke highly of his time at the academy, but couldn’t pass up the opportunity to play in Europe when it came knocking.

I had the option to stay and sign a homegrown deal with Salt Lake. I definitely thought about it but for the one thing has always been Europe. The good thing is that I give Salt Lake a lot of credit for being so understanding about my decision. It’s not easy when they lose good players from their academy and they don’t get any compensation for it. I understand that can be frustrating. But they were understanding and wished me the best on the move to Bayern. They understood that was a deal I couldn’t turn down. They realized that. I am happy that we kept a good relationship. Hopefully sometime down the road, if I ever come back to MLS, Salt Lake will definitely be my first choice.

For now Booth will focus on playing with Bayern’s U19 team and getting back into the routine of playing every week.

It’s definitely a super-intense league. All the teams are good and all the players work really hard. That pushes you to become a better player. The league gets a lot of attention and a lot of people are always watching. If you play well there, you’ll get a lot of exposure. You can make a name for yourself.

While Booth is focused on helping his team win the U19 Bundesliga, he has another goal on his mind: making the US roster for the U20 World Cup this May. Although Booth will still be eligible in 2021 for the next U20 World Cup, he believes that he can work hard enough to earn a roster spot this year.

Hopefully I get an opportunity in a camp with the U20’s where I can prove myself and prove I belong on that team. It’s been difficult for me over the past year with the U20s because I haven’t been getting matches every weekend. But now that I am going to be playing, I should be getting back to speed quickly. I am definitely going to be looking forward to hopefully making that roster.