Bryan Zaragoza is having enormous teething problems at FC Bayern. Not only coach Thomas Tuchel is currently sceptical. An example from Munich’s past gives hope.
Bryan Zaragoza is currently one of the big problem children at FC Bayern. When signing the new winter signing from Granada FC, sporting director Christoph Freund said he had „a lot of potential.“
„He will expand our attacking options,“ promised Freund. So far, there has been little sign of this potential. Zaragoza has only made two brief appearances in the Bundesliga and did not even make the 20-man squad for the last match against Darmstadt.
Coach Thomas Tuchel recently explained this with language problems. Zaragoza also struggles in English, which is unfavourable for communicating with teammates. There have been reports from Spain that the coach has not yet spoken to Zaragoza at all. According to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, Tuchel was not convinced by the early transfer anyway.
Zaragoza’s signing was originally planned for the summer, but was finalised during the winter break following the injuries to Serge Gnabry and Kingsley Coman.
As reported in the BILD podcast „Bayern Insider“, scepticism about the Zaragoza transfer is also said to be growing within the team. According to the report, there are doubts as to whether the 22-year-old is even at Bayern level.
Davies as a positive example?
However, the bosses still believe in Zaragoza and are urging patience. His performances in the Primera Division have been too convincing. The left winger scored six goals in 21 games for Granada in the first half of the season.
A positive example from the past gives hope. Alphonso Davies also struggled in 2019 after his arrival at FC Bayern and only played six games in the second half of the 2018/2019 season. After that, however, he developed rapidly and shone with outstanding performances in the victorious 2020 Champions League final tournament.
However, Davies was only 18 years old when he moved to Munich, while Zaragoza is already 22. There are also numerous other cases in which signings did not reach the level Bayern had hoped for. Take Alvaro Odriozola, for example, who was loaned out as a right-back from Real Madrid in the winter of 2020. He only played five competitive matches for FCB and has since returned to his home club Real Sociedad.
The coming months will show which direction Zaragoza takes.
