15-year-old goalkeeper Christian Früchtl (l.) is one of six youth players to have made the trip to Doha for FC Bayern München's mid-season training camp. - © © imago
15-year-old goalkeeper Christian Früchtl (l.) is one of six youth players to have made the trip to Doha for FC Bayern München's mid-season training camp. - © © imago

Future Bayern Stars set for Doha initiation

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On the surface, it comes as no great surprise to see a selection of youth team players making the trip to Doha for FC Bayern München’s annual winter training camp on the Persian Gulf, but scratch a little deeper and there is one surprise, albeit conspicuous, inclusion.

Twitter abuzz as Bayern head to Doha

Standing at 1.90 metres and with European size 50 feet, 15-year-old goalkeeper Christian Früchtl is the gentle giant no one expected to see passing through check-in at Munich airport on Wednesday morning.

Learning from the best

Born on 28 January 2000, Früchtl is a regular between the posts for the Bayern and Germany Under-16s. He has already represented the Bayern U-19s in the UEFA Youth League and even made the substitutes’ bench in the A- and B-Youth Bundesliga.

For one so young, those are some impressive achievements, but it is rubbing shoulders with Bayern No.1 Manuel Neuer and reserve custodians Sven Ulreich and Tom Starke in Doha, that could help propel his nascent game to the next level.

Glimpse into the future

- © gettyimages / Lennart Preiss