Sarpreet Singh (FC Hansa Rostock | Germany)

I like the idea of him being in the Bayern set up for a while before he gets shifted on. Let him settle in make the most of there coaching / facilities and get into good routines along side some of the big names in the game. They have a good core of young players and having guys around him like Davies the young Canadian guy in a similar situation to Singh will be good someone that can probably relate to the cultural challenges there. Also it seems like there coach rates him so that is a real positive. 

Playing on a regular basis is also really important for his development. I agree sitting on the bench is not going to do him any good. He's still probably unlikely to get regular first team game time, So playing for the second team for periods is still a really good option at Bayern, especially in his first season there. They know what there doing there at Bayern. I'm sure they want to develop him properly and then sell him on for a killing in a few years time.

with many of these top German clubs having second teams playing league football, do they loan players much (like they do in England)?

They do. The second teams tend to be 3. Bundesliga at best, and some are in the fourth tier regional leagues (in fact Bayern II just got promoted to 3. Bundesliga). The second teams are basically youth teams,  mostly guys under 20. So if you've got a 20-year old who you think can play a bit, playing him in 2 or 3 tiers below the first team is probably not the best option. That's where loans come into play.

Bayern aren't a selling club, they don't think like that. They want trophies, and if they think you can help get them, they'll keep you. If they don't, you're gone by lunchtime. Just ask the Korean dude they brought over as an 18-year old whom they've now offloaded to Freiburg. 

It’s good for him to be in the first team, Singh will learn from the best of the best. They let him play when from time to time to keep him happy and check his progress. Coach said he is already performing better than they thought. Even if he’s not making it in the next few years, he’ll get another gig somewhere else.

Think he’s in the best possible place at the moment to be honest. Already got the public backing from Niko Kovac saying that he’s surprised and somewhat delighted that he is far more progressed than even Bayern thought he would be at this stage of his time in Germany. So they then move him from the reserve team and bump him into the first team environment. Both of those actions and reactions would give the lad mountains of confidence, as very, very few youngsters would get that kind of acknowledgement at such an early stage in their careers at such a huge club.  

Even if he’s not in a position where he’ll be a regular starter for the first team in the Bundesliga, at some stage it does look like he’ll be called upon to take the field, and it could even be as early as v Energie Cottbus this weekend. Would also think Bayern would wait and see how he goes in a competitive match situation before making a call on whether to loan him out to another club... He didn’t look at all out of place at all against some very good teams recently, so who knows? He might just (continue) to surprise us!

I don’t know if it’s ‘by far’ the most optimal, I just don’t think it’s the end of the world. I’m making assumptions about the benefits of being part of the Bayern setup, I just would have assumed that the access he’s getting to world class coaching, senior players and the environment in general would be hard to put a value on. Definitely not forever, just as a stepping stone/development experience. It’s Bayern Munich for gods sake!  

Surely the optimal outcome would be him being a regular starter for Bayern and scoring a 90th minute screamer to win the Champions League final just days after I win $30 million on Powerball? That sounds more optimal than any of these other scenarios being bandied about.

You forgot that I win the second prize of $1m (happy with that!) too!

And then you can buy the nix

Being loaned out to another Bundesliga wouldn't even guarantee him more playing time. If he is on the bench at Bayern it's likely they will have more games where they are two or three goals ahead and comfortable, and another club wouldn't have the same long-term interest in his development.

And assuming this scenario does play out and he makes, let's say, 10 appearances this season in total (starts and off the bench), this is something that very very few football players ever achieve. He will have those appearances on his football 'C.V.' which will add to his market value and set him up for a successful career even if he doesn't quite make the step up to the Bayern first team. 

This is why it's important for him to stay in the first team this year and get a few appearances under his belt with one of the most elite football clubs in the world. If things don't go to plan he'll have a gig somewhere else as pretty much any pro club in the world (outside the top 1%) would take a fringe Bayern player.

Someone on Twitter (perhaps a YF forums member) just asked German football expert Rafa Honigstein about Sarpreet Singh. Reply was, "he has left a really good impression on tour".

Link: https://twitter.com/BaronGoneAWOL/status/1158858509993144320

Just watched  highlights  of the Spurs game again and the lad looked quite at home and comfortable.  Good on him.

what about how Sarpreet couldn't get in our team by the end of last season? #judan

Come back Sarpreet, the Nix need a penalty taker.

Cacace will do

IIRC they both played- Max a little deeper? But yeh, it's one of those things with an asterisk for sure.  

I think he knew how good Sarpreet and Libby were when he was saying enjoy it while it's here...

Singh and co. kick off in a couple hours in a friendly against 9th-tier Rottach-Egern. Being livestreamed over at Bayern's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QL5hFwCo-r0

Singh scored one  of the 23 goals for Bayern.

59th min for Singh's goal.

23 goals...

nice composure from singh to get the second ball after keeper made the save.,

Watched some of those highlights and man he looked quality. Could have scored 3 goals, didn't see him lose the ball once, 100% passing accuracy, made some nice assists. He's the type of player that thrives in a really good team and doesn't look out of place at all. 

Highlight for me was a little chip over the top from the edge of the penalty area to Mueller (I think) who knocked it across goal for a tap in.

Around min 1:28:40

I mean, this was a game against the equivalent of Cap 1 or 2 side. Let's not gild the lilly too much.

Obviously. You can only judge a player by their overall performance and their relative performance to their team mates. Comparing him to the other Bayern players he didn't look out of place at all and was one of the better players in the Bayern team imo.

Pretty awesome of Bayern to play a 9th tier club. Obviously a shellacking, but by the looks of it the opposition players didn't mind much.

Apparently it's an annual fixture. Last year they beat them 20-2.

Yeah I'd be absolutely stoked to play a big professional side as an amateur footballer, wouldn't care at all if they scored 20 or 30.

A close game. I believe the amateur side got to keep all the gate money from the 2,500 whom attended.

How did they concede 2?

The watched a bit of the second half. The commentator was full of praise, NZ super talent and Singh offering the creativity in the midfield Bayern was missing.

Things may have got better for Singh at Bayern. There were very strong rumours that Bayern were about to break the all time Bundislige transfer record and pay 110 million euros for Leroy Sane from City. Except that Sane just mashed his anterior cruciate ligament, will have surgery and be out for months. So no transfer.

If Sane had arrived then Singhs prospects of game time for the first team would have dived. They already have wide attackers like Coman, Gnarby, Davies and Muller(who is more a second striker). Sane would have been a first team starter 100%. Still a while to go until the end of the German transfer window though.

His initiation song is on social media. Seeing sarpreet sing Baby by Justin Bieber  in front of a old bearded man playing a  bongo drum, while Bayern Munich superstars laugh and cheer is one of the strangest and surreal things I've seen in a while. 

https://i.stuff.co.nz/sport/football/world-game/114818305/new-zealand-back-on-bundesliga-radar-thanks-to-sarpreet-singhs-exploits