Young, talented, but already good enough? Augsburg’s new signing Yusuf Kabadayi was trained at FC Bayern and is now fighting for playing time in the Bundesliga.
New in Augsburg: Yusuf Kabadayi. IMAGO/FC Augsburg
Frank Linkesch reports from Augsburg’s training camp in White River/South Africa
The new signing, who joined FC Bayern in 2012 at the age of eight and fought his way through all the junior teams to the adult level, has no lack of self-confidence. An achievement that Kabadayi can and is proud of. Employees at the FC Bayern campus describe him as extroverted.
An assessment that the offensive player shares: “I am a cheerful, loud person, which perhaps polarizes people because many people can’t deal with it.” But it is important to him to dispel a prejudice. “I was certainly not a problem child at Bayern.” And as proof of this, he adds: “I always played because the coaches knew that they could rely on me and trust me.”
Instructive year at Schalke
But the path to the FC Bayern professional team was blocked for the talented player, like so many others; the step was too high. So a year ago he was loaned to Schalke 04, where he scored four goals and made one assist in 23 appearances in a partly chaotic second division season. “Even people who had been at Schalke for a long time told me that there had never been a year like this before. There were times of disaster and good times. At one point there was even a threat of relegation to the third division, and this is one of the most emotional clubs in Germany,” he says, adding that the football-mad people there would rather buy a ticket than go to the dentist.
Kabadayi sums up his experience: “It was very educational. Personally, I learned how to deal with high pressure when things are not going well and still perform well.”
Kabadayi still needs time
However, there was no future for him at Schalke, “ultimately it wasn’t a good fit for all parties. I think I need a calm environment, and I find that in Augsburg.” A return to FC Bayern was not an option: “Sure, you can always say you want to stay and assert yourself. But in the end it’s about whether you have a realistic chance of playing a lot as a young player.”
So he moved to FC Augsburg, where he signed for a transfer fee of 900,000 euros until 2028. Will he hit the ground running? Not really. Coach Jess Thorup said at the start of the days in South Africa: “I am convinced that he can bring his quality to this level, but he needs a bit of time to get used to it.”
Flexible offensive use: Yusuf Kabadayi. IMAGO/DiZ-PiX
In the friendly against Young Africans (2:1), Kabadayi was unimpressed. Nevertheless, he chose the club deliberately: “This is a young team that wants to play offensive football, power football. That suits me.” However, his signature role as left winger does not exist in the current system, but Kabadayi also sees himself up front or as a number ten.
Learned from Coman, promoted by Klose
He learned a lot from Kingsley Coman at Bayern, including his footballing ability and his work ethic. And he says that Miroslav Klose, along with his family, was his biggest supporter: “He brought me up to the U17s when I was 14.”
Big names, lots of experiences at a young age. Will he make the full leap into professional football? “First of all, I want to soak up everything here, fight my way into the team and then simply give my best performance. If I manage that, I’ll get my chance. If not, then not. It’s only up to me.” Kabadayi certainly doesn’t lack self-confidence.
2024-07-24 19:51:00
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