Shaqiri set to join Bayern

Earlier today, kicker reported that Bayern and FC Basel are close to an agreement to finalize the deal that brings midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri to Munich. A fee of €10-12m was mentioned, and the signing was expected to happen next week.

Now, hours later, Bild goes one better. According to them, it’s a done deal, Shaqiri will sign a 4-year contract later this week, Bayern pay a fee of €9m + potential bonus payments in case of success.

Xherdan Shaqiri was born in what’s now Kosovo, back then, on October 10th 1991, Yugoslavia, in a city called Gnjilane. Only a few years after birth he, together with his parents, left the war zone and moved to the outskirts of Basel, stones throw from the Swiss-German border. He joined the FC Basel youth system as a 10-year-old so, if/when he signs for Bayern, it’ll be his first club change since 11 years and only the second of his life.

After playing for Basel’s and Switzerland’s various youth teams, Shaqiri celebrated his first Super League appearance as a 17-year-old and his first goal only two months later against Xamax.

Since then, he has scored another 17 goals for the Swiss FCB, one of that in a Champions League match against Roma. At 20 years of age, ‘Shaq’ already played over 110 club matches and 17 for the Swiss national team (4 goals including one against England). You won’t find many more experienced players at that age.

What kind of player is Xherdan Shaqiri? His primary position is the right midfielder but is being used as left midfielder and even as right-back isn’t a problem, either. Shaqiri’s weapon is his left foot, he can dribble past opponents and blast beautiful long-range shots just as well as play accurate, deadly passes. I’d tell you more about him but it’s better to just wait as you’ll see him in a few weeks when Bayern and Basel meet for the first leg of the Champions League round of 16.

Shaqiri wouldn’t be a regular immediately but his quality would make sure that he’d play very often. When both Thorsten Fink and Ottmar Hitzfeld say that he’s a brilliant player, who are we to argue?