Alphonso Davies “earmarked for the first-team” by Bayern Munich coach Niko Kovac
Alphonso Davies can expect to be thrown straight into the first-team set-up at Bayern Munich when he joins the Bundesliga champions from Vancouver Whitecaps in January, with Niko Kovac sufficiently impressed with the Canadian prodigy in training this week.
Davies trained with the senior squad at Säbener Straße for the first time on Thursday as part of a month-long orientation with his future employers, and Bayern coach Kovac has little doubt that the 18-year-old winger is made of the right stuff.
“He’s a very talented young player who drew interest from more than just Bayern,” Kovac said of the youngster, who has scored eight goals and assisted nine more in MLS in 2018. “We’re very happy to have signed such a diamond in the rough.”
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Davies, a left-footer, broke through as a right-winger, but has hugged his natural touchline more often than not for the Whitecaps this season. Bayern may have a wealth of options on either side – Arjen Robben, Franck Ribery, Serge Gnabry and Kingsley Coman to name a few – but Davies can still expect significant Bundesliga minutes.
“Of course, we can’t over-expose him,” Kovac concluded. “But he’s definitely a player we have earmarked for the first-team.”
Davies, the youngest man ever to play and score for Canada, could make his German top-flight debut as soon as 18 January, when the champions travel to the Wirsol Rhein-Neckar-Arena to take on Hoffenheim in the Rückrunde opener.