Austrian head coach Ralf Rangnick is set to go toe-to-toe with the Deutscher Fußball-Bund over the international future of 16-year-old Bayern Munich midfielder Paul Wanner according to Abendzeitung’s Maximilian Koch.
Though born in Dornbirn near the German and Swiss borders, Wanner was raised in Baden-Württemberg and began with local outfit FV Ravensburg before securing a move to Bayern in 2018.
In January 2022, Wanner’s potential became clear when he made his professional debut for the Bavarian giants against Borussia Mönchengladbach youngest player in Bayern’s history (16 years & 15 days) and the second-youngest ever debutant in Bundesliga history behind Youssoufa Moukoko.
Wanner has already received seven caps for Germany’s U17 side but Rangnick intends to make the midfielder a part of Austria’s senior setup in the near future once Euro 2024 qualification begins in March when Unsere Burschen embarks on a campaign in Group F that will see them clash with Belgium, Sweden, Azerbaijan, and Estonia, with the top two nations achieving direct qualification.
Rangnick is said to be planning discussions with Germany head coach Hansi Flick surrounding the immediate future of Wanner, which no doubt will come down to how Flick views the future of the Bayern midfielder on the international stage given the notion that Germany’s pool of talent far exceeds that of Austria.
Should Wanner’s pathway lay forward with that of Austria and not Germany, he would add his name to a number of younger players 21 or younger that Rangnick could turn to during the qualification cycle, including Niklas Hedl, Nicolas Seiwald, Alexander Prass, Junior Adamu, and Patrick Wimmer.
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