New Bayern Munich signing Ismael Saibari admits head coach Vincent Kompany played a key role in his decision to join from PSV Eindhoven.
The 25-year-old Morocco forward, still at the World Cup, has signed a five-year contract in a deal reported to be worth up to £45 million ($60m).
“As a child, you dream of signing a contract with a club like Bayern — everybody knows it’s one of the world’s biggest clubs,” he told the club’s official website.
“Bayern compete for the biggest titles like the Champions League every year and I want to win as many trophies as possible here.
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“Bayern’s play suits me, I can play my own style of football here, and I’ll work hard every day to help the team.
“Coach Vincent Kompany played a key role in my decision — I’m looking forward to working with him.”
Saibari scored in each of Morocco’s three group matches at the World Cup before converting the winning spot-kick in their round of 32 penalty shoot-out victory over Netherlands.
However, Bayern’s board member for sport Max Eberl said they had been tracking the player well before he sprung to prominence in this summer’s tournament.
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“We’re delighted to have secured the services of Ismael Saibari, one of the most exciting forwards at the World Cup,” he said.
“Transfers like this don’t happen on the spur of the moment, but are the result of long-term planning: the key factor was that we made our position clear to him early on because we were aware of Ismael’s skills and were able to show him a clear future with us from the start.
“Ismael Saibari will bring extra quality and unpredictability to our attacking play.”
