Arijon Ibrahimovic is one of Bayern Munich’s greatest hopes for youngsters. While his U19s are struggling, the only 16-year-old offensive player scores as if on an assembly line.
At 16, Arijon Ibrahimovic is the third youngest player in FC Bayern Munich’s U19 squad, but also the most dangerous: he has already scored eight goals and three assists in the previous nine competitive games in the A-Jugend-Bundesliga and Youth League, on average he hits every 94 minutes. Most recently he made his debut for the German U18 national team and of course he scored directly there too.
First to clarify: Arijon Ibrahimovic is not related to the great Zlatan. The 41-year-old superstar has Bosnian roots and was born in Malmö, Sweden. The FC Bayern youth player, on the other hand, was born in Nuremberg, Germany, and his family comes from Kosovo.
Before moving to FC Bayern at the age of twelve, Arijon Ibrahimovic played for the two Franconian local rivals SpVgg Greuther Fürth and 1. FC Nürnberg. A bit like Zlatan in Milan, it is well known that the dislike between Inter and Milan did not prevent him from engaging with both clubs.
Seitz on Arijon Ibrahimovic: “Best as a hanging striker”
Of course, the talented Arijon was asked about his famous namesake early on. “Well,” he replied in an interview at the age of ten. “I also play up front and score a few goals. But he’s a bit better than me.” Unlike the famous Ibrahimovic, the 1.76 meter tall Arijon is not a classic centre-forward.
“He can be used in any attacking position,” says junior manager Holger Seitz SPOX and GOALS. “In my opinion, however, his strengths come out best as a hanging point.”
Over the course of this season, Ibrahimovic has already played in the center and on both wings. “When entering men’s football, this variability will certainly help him to get plenty of playing times as early as possible,” speculates Seitz.
Arijon Ibrahimovic’s first call-up to the professional squad
Ibrahimovic even gained his first experiences in men’s football when professional coach Julian Nagelsmann was plagued by acute personnel problems before the start of the second half of the season against Borussia Mönchengladbach in January: Nine players were infected with Corona at the same time, two were at the Africa Cup of Nations, two were injured.
Instead of helping out himself at the age of 34, Nagelsmann had two 16-year-olds flown in from the U19 training camp in Spain: Paul Wanner and Arijon Ibrahimovic. Wanner actually made his debut as a substitute, becoming the youngest player in Bayern history. Ibrahimovic was on the bench for 90 minutes.
For Nagelsmann, Ibrahimovic was not a newcomer even then: six months earlier, at the age of 15, he had him train with the professionals for the first time. “We have a very good impression,” said Nagelsmann. “He’s a very good offensive player who has his qualities in attacking one-on-ones, who’s good at dribbling.”
Seitz calls him an “instinct footballer”: “He has excellent technical training and a very good understanding of the game. When playing together, one contact is often enough for him to put the ball down or pass it on. His outstanding speed of action also helps him in this respect. He brings a lot of dynamism to the game the duels, also has a good finish and shoots good standards.” However, there was still room for improvement “in the backward movement during enemy attacks”.
FC Bayern: What’s next for Arijon Ibrahimovic?
Similar to his famous namesake, Arijon Ibrahimovic seems to be quite confident in himself. “Ari is an ambitious and self-confident boy who knows what he can do and where he wants to go,” says Seitz. It should be clear that he wants to play professional football. But which way?
Because the reserves only play in the fourth-tier Regionalliga Bayern, FC Bayern increasingly relies on loan deals on the threshold between youth and adult football for match practice at a higher level. Twelve players are currently on loan in this area, including Gabriel Vidovic to Vitesse Arnhem. This step may also be an option for Ibrahimovic in the future.
First of all, however, it is important to help convert one’s personal successes into team successes: In the A-Jugend-Bundesliga, FC Bayern’s U19s are only in fifth place in the A-Youth Bundesliga, eight points behind the leaders FSV Mainz 05, who have not lost points, in their youth -League group she is even last.
