Offensive talent Leon Dajaku was passed over at VfB Stuttgart. Now he is looking for his luck with the amateurs of FC Bayern in the 3rd league.
Less than twelve months ago, Leon Dajaku dribbled alone towards FC Bayern’s goal in the round of sixteen of the Junior DFB Cup, curving goalkeeper Michael Wagner and scoring to the decisive 3:1. The talented attacker was so happy to enter the next round that he ripped his jersey off, sprinted towards the corner flag and let his VfB Stuttgart teammates celebrate with him.
Today, almost a year later, this teenager, who has just graduated from high school, is in control of the headlines. Since that game in October 2018 at the Bayern Campus, the 18-year-old’s career has changed a lot. The preliminary highlight was his Bundesliga debut in Mönchengladbach in December. To this day, he is the third youngest player in the 53-year history of the VfB Bundesliga. Despite wet and cold weather, grey skies and a bitter 0:3 defeat for VfB, this day was an unforgettable experience for Dajaku.
“Pulse definitely went up. Making his debut in the professional team at the age of 17 is something very special,” the offensive man remembers later in an interview with the newspaper publisher Waiblingen. “Even if it was cold and wet and we lost, you don’t forget a day like that.”
Dajaku may have been similarly excited over the past few days, as the 18-year-old signed a contract with FC Bayern on Tuesday. Until 2023 he was bound to the Munichers. “He is a fighter, has always given everything in Stuttgart and now wants to take these virtues with him to Munich,” his advisor Kevin Kuranyi describes him to SOCCERSCORE and Goal.
“We are very happy that Leon decided for FC Bayern. He is a fast and dangerous offensive player. We are convinced that he will still make great steps in the development of FC Bayern,” says Jochen Sauer, head of the FC Bayern Campus, explaining the commitment of the German U18 national player, who, according to the picture, cost the Munich team 1.5 million euros. “Leon has been watched by Bavaria for quite some time,” Kuranyi reveals. “The club wanted to bring him to Munich a few years ago and the contact hasn’t been broken since.”
The fact that Dajaku has been able to play his way into the focus of other clubs in recent years can also be seen in his goal quota. Even though he is at home on the grand piano, he scored 17 goals in 31 games during the last U19 season. Among them some important goals in the final round of the German championship. “Leon likes to come out on the outside and loves one-on-one,” enthuses ex-national player Kuranyi. “He’s a street soccer player trying to move into the penalty area and lock up.”
Through the FCB amateurs, the 18-year-old, who will be number seven in the future, wants to recommend himself for higher things. “First, I want him to practice in the third league. But he will probably also have the opportunity to train with the professionals,” Kuranyi describes his protégé’s plan. “I don’t want to pressure the boy. But talent and will are there to make a difference. Leon’s got soccer in his head. And he can learn an infinite amount here.”
The son of Kosovar parents was already raised to professional status in Stuttgart last year. He regularly trained with the big players, and twice he was even allowed to get a taste of the Bundesliga air as an U19 player. However, he was denied the prospect of further top-level assignments in Schwabenländle. “He has given everything for VfB, but he has just been sent to the second team, the fifth league,” Kuranyi makes clear.
Instead of relying on hopeful indigenous plants such as Dajaku, VfB seems to be focusing on newcomers such as Sasa Kalajdzic, Philipp Klement or Mateo Klimowicz, especially in the offensive. For Kuranyi and his protégé it is therefore “completely logical” that FC Bayern offers better prospects with their appearances in the 3rd league and the chance of training sessions with the pros.
While the move from Stuttgart to the amateurs of FC Bayern may seem surprising at first glance, the move is no longer surprising in view of the threat of playing against clubs such as SV Linx or TSV Ilshofen in the Baden-Württemberg Oberliga. “Strange as it sounds: I see a better sporting perspective for me at FC Bayern – even at short notice,” Dajaku himself explains his change at Instagram and therefore does not see the 3rd league as a step backwards. “In Munich, I can take the next step in my development and even have the chance to train in the professional squad with the best players in Germany.”
Despite all the joy about the career step to the biggest German club, Dajaku has a hard time saying goodbye from Stuttgart. “I was in the club for five years and was allowed to make a development with the Brustring from the youth player up to the first Bundesliga appearances. Something I will never forget,” he writes in the social networks.
Well, he continues, “a new chapter” begins for him – one without brustring. One in which he will suddenly run up in possible south hits instead of for his home club for the big rival. He will probably stifle emotional jubilation runs with his jersey torn off after possible hits from an old bond.
