He trained with Manuel Neuer and the Bayern professionals when he was just 16 years old, and now goalkeeper Christian Früchtl is moving to Serie A in Italy.
Christian Früchtl is set to join US Lecce, who finished 14th in the Serie A table last season. The 24-year-old is due to complete his medical check this Wednesday and then sign his contract. FC Bayern secured a 50% transfer fee in the event of a sell-on when Früchtl moved to Austria Vienna two years ago.
In addition to Lecce, Queens Park Rangers from the English Championship were particularly interested in the 1.93-meter-tall keeper. VfL Bochum also enquired, but were probably unable to afford the transfer fee. The contact with Eintracht Braunschweig, where Früchtl could have succeeded Ron-Thorben Hoffmann, with whom he once alternated in FC Bayern’s 2nd team and won the 3rd division championship in 2020, was rather loose
Sporting lost year in Nuremberg
Früchtl, who comes from Bischofsmais in Lower Bavaria, joined the German record champions as a 14-year-old in 2014 via Grün-Weiß Deggendorf and was quickly regarded as a great goalkeeping talent. Coach Pep Guardiola took him to the winter training camp in Qatar at the start of 2016, where Früchtl was in the media spotlight for the first time. After the 2020 third division championship, FC Bayern loaned the goalkeeper to 1. FC Nuremberg, where he languished on the substitutes’ bench under coach Robert Klauß, unable to get past Christian Mathenia, who was by no means better. It was a lost year in sporting terms for the keeper, who was subsequently signed by Austria Vienna, where he made 61 appearances and also gained international experience, including five Conference League games as well as qualifying matches for this competition and the Europa League.
At Lecce, his aim now is to earn a regular place and perhaps one day catch the eye of a Bundesliga club. However, it is likely to be difficult for him to take over from Manuel Neuer at FC Bayern, as Munich are currently planning to use Alexander Nübel, who has been loaned out to VfB Stuttgart.
