Who is Nestory Irankunda, the young Australian prodigy billed as the next Sadio Mané?
Nestory Irankunda, the young prodigy billed as the next Sadio Mané. At 17, the Tanzania-born player who plays in Australia has signed for Bayern Munich.
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At 17, Sadio Mané was still running around the streets of Sédhiou, where his swaying dribbles left young and old in awe. He was soon to join the Génération Foot academy, which would prove a genuine springboard for him. At 17, Nestory Irankunda has already left his native Kigoma. He is no longer Tanzanian but Australian. He is already showing his talent at professional level in his adopted country, Australia. The prodigy has 35 A-League Men appearances, in the Australian top flight, with 9 goals and 4 assists. Those performances convinced Bayern Munich to put a cheque for 3.4 million euros on the table for his club Adelaide United, a record transfer for that side.
"He has the same height and the same pace as Sadio Mané"
Nestory Irankunda will move to Munich next season, when he turns 18. Those who have watched him play for Australia's U17 side or in the league compare him to Sadio Mané, the Senegalese magician who lit up the English Premier League in a Liverpool shirt. "The player I've always compared him to is Sadio Mané. He has the same height, the same pace, the same power, and both strike the ball superbly. Both also like to take on defenders and are brilliant in transition and in wide-open spaces. But Mané's technique is obviously more refined," says a scout interviewed by the website Transfermarkt.
"Nestory Irankunda is a highlights machine"
"Since his debut, Nestory Irankunda has been a highlights machine. In his own words, he only scores gems, and that is absolutely true. Since scoring that magical free kick at the age of 15, Nestory has never stopped producing wonders. Adelaide, under their coach Carl Veart, have wrapped him in cotton wool because of the excitement he has generated. Despite calls to put him in the starting XI, the club did not rush him, and it has worked a treat," adds Australian journalist Sacha Pisani, also speaking to Transfermarkt.
Bayern Munich, who had an eye on Sadio Mané when he was making his name at RB Salzburg in Austria, are delighted to have secured young Nestory Irankunda. "We have had Nestory in our sights for some time and we are happy to have reached an agreement with him and Adelaide United for a move to Munich next summer," says Jochen Sauer, Bayern's director of youth development.