After a rather disappointing season, finishing third in the “Regionalliga Bayern”, Bayern Munich’s reserve team, Bayern II, have begun strengthening the squad for next season. Having already announced the signing of 19-year-old striker Maximilian Wagner, two new arrivals from FC Augsburg were announced in the form of winger Dion Berisha, who signed until 2025, and Davide Dell’Erba, who signed until 2026. All three new players will arrive on a free transfer after the expiry of their contracts at the end of June.
Halil Altintop, Bayern II’s new sporting director, had this to say: “Davide [Dell’Erba] and Dion [Berisha] are two ambitious and interesting talents, who benefitted from a good education in Augsburg. Both have already had experience in the Regionalliga and we are happy, that they have decided to continue their careers with us.”
The aforementioned experience Altintop mentioned came in the form of 8 games for Berisha and 21 games for Dell’Erba.
BFW Analysis
On the face of things, these transfers are unremarkable. Bayern II is losing depth in midfield and does not have much depth on the right of the attack, so both transfers address obvious problems in the roster. The fact that they are free transfers is a boon, but rather par for the course when it comes to youth teams.
However, the age of the new transfers is interesting. After Bayern II was relegated from the 3. Liga with a team consisting mostly of 20-or-21-year-olds, the club used the drop in quality from the 3. Liga to the Regionalliga to blood new youngsters early, with the squad for the next season consisting primarily of 16, 17, 18-year-olds.
Essentially, it was a U-19 side that was able to play against grown men and develop accordingly, forming a team that was probably more talented and more hungry than the previous team and only promoting players/signing players who were 18-years-old. However, the downside was that the inexperience has told for two seasons straight, with the team unable to get promoted.
That’s why the signings of two 19-year-olds and a 20-year-old catches the eye. They are “win now” signings. This seems like a concerted push to bring Bayern II back to the 3. Liga after two straight failed attempts at promotion, which is so important for the club as a whole to do. We’ll see how well Bayern II can pull the balancing act of blooding experience along with talent along with fighting for promotion. This is a step to achieving the latter.