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According to reports by various sources (via transfermarkt), Bayern Munich have apparently signed a 17-year-old center back Justin Che from FC Dallas. Che, who was apparently already training with Bayern in January, is set to join the club’s youth campus. He follows in the steps of Chris Richards, another Dallas prospect who made the move to Germany in recent years.
What else do we know about Che? Pretty much nothing. He has German citizenship, which is what’s letting him make the move to Europe at such a young age. He’s made one appearance for the USMNT U-16 side, per transfermarkt. That’s really all we can figure out at this point. There isn’t even a picture of him online, so I can’t even tell you what he looks like.
FC Dallas, however, are known as one of the best academies in MLS, and Bayern have a partnership which allows them to share talent, giving Bayern access to their academy. Bryan Reynolds, who recently moved to AS Roma for a record fee, trained at the FC Bayern campus as a part of this program. This kid is part of that same talent pipeline.
According to the report, the transfer was completed late on deadline day. Now, we just wait until the club makes it official.
Update
A user in the comments shared some info about Che and it definitely helps us form an idea of what he’s like.
Hey guys! I’m a big US men’s national team fan and I follow the young prospects as best I can.
Che is highly rated as a future CB, but got minutes mainly as a RB last year, and a little at LB. He played for North Texas SC, on loan from FC Dallas. North Texas SC is Dallas’ second team, mostly made up of U21 players, and they play in USL League One, which is the third division here in the States.
There are 2 full game comps out there from DTID Records:
#46 Justin Che v Forward Madison 7/25/20
#46 Justin Che v Union Omaha 8/1/20
Posted by Justin Moran (kick swish) on Feb 3, 2021 | 8:57 PM
It’s hard to take any concrete conclusions from a couple of highlights, but if he’s a future prospect at RB as well as CB, it might be an indication of what Bayern’s planning for the future of the position.