Bayern Munich has completed the signing of Morocco forward Ismael Saibari from PSV Eindhoven, with the 25-year-old World Cup standout penning a five-year contract worth up to £45 million ($60m).
The Moroccan international, who scored in every group match at the World Cup and netted the decisive penalty in the round of 32 shootout against the Netherlands, revealed that Bayern head coach Vincent Kompany was instrumental in his decision.
“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,” Saibari 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. 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.”
Bayern’s board member for sport, Max Eberl, emphasized that the club had been tracking Saibari long before his breakout World Cup performance. “We’re delighted to have secured the services of Ismael Saibari, one of the most exciting forwards at the World Cup,” Eberl 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.”