Hoffenheim reportedly beating Bayern in race to sign Union Berlin youngster Fisnik Asllani

Bayern Munich has all but lost the race to sign Union Berlin youngster and Germany U-18 starlet Fisnik Asllani. Per a new report from Az, the 17-year old looks set to join TSG Hoffenheim on a four year contract. In addition to Bayern and Hoffenheim, Schalke and Hertha Berlin were also interested in acquiring Asllani’s services, but the center forward’s move to Hoffenheim is just about finalized.

The interest from Hertha and Schalke was confirmed by Asllani’s agent, Kadir Özdogan. The desire for a move stems from the fact that he has not been offered a professional contract at Union. His teammate, Tim Maciejewski, a fellow striker, however, was offered a professional contract. Asllani and his agent feel that he’ll have better opportunities at Hoffenheim, especially after doing everything in their power to try and secure a professional contract with Berlin. There had been some promise when he was included in the winter training camp in Spain, but it wasn’t enough for a contract offer in the end.

Photo by City-Press GmbH via Getty Images

Asllani enjoyed a fantastic campaign with Union Berlin’s U-19’s in the Junioren Bundesliga Nord/Nordost, scoring 15 goals and providing 7 assists from a total of 16 appearances. Unfortunately the league was cut short as a result of the coronavirus and Union finished 4th, just 10 points off of first-placed Werder Bremen U-19s.

BFW Analysis - Continued investment in youth

While this may not prove to be a big miss for Bayern, it alludes to a bigger picture of what the future of the transfer market will be like. With the overall market taking such a hit from the coronavirus, there will likely be a shift in focusing on youth prospects and younger talents because they will be more financially feasible for most clubs. We’ve already seen this pattern with Bayern signing Paris Saint-Germain’s Tanguy Kouassi and going after Adil Aouchiche and El Chadaille Bitshiabu. Not to mention, Bayern already has a lot of promising young talents as well like Sarpreet Singh, Jamal Musiala, Chris Richars, and Oliver Batista-Meier, among others.

Photo by M. Donato/FC Bayern via Getty Images