Johan Bakayoko: Belgian Prodigy Who Snubbed Premier League For RB Leipzig In Bundesliga

NDTV

14 hours ago

The German Bundesliga has become a deep pool of talent, creating, nurturing, and even supplying top-quality footballers all across the globe. One of the clubs that has quickly developed a reputation of helping promising youngsters become world-class players is RB Leipzig. In a transfer window that saw Leipzig lose a player of the quality of Benjamin Sesko, sold to Manchester United for over 80 million Euros, the club quickly moved to capture another highly promising player from the market, Belgian winger Johan Bakayoko. In a chat with NDTV during a round table media conference, Bakayoko shared insights into his transfer to the German Bundesliga despite concrete interest from multiple clubs in the English Premier League.
Responding to a query from NDTV about the role fellow Belgian internationals, Lois Openda and Arthur Vermeeren, who also play for Leipzig in the Bundesliga, played in his transfer to the club, Bakayoko admitted that it was important for him to hear from them about how they felt at Leipzig.
"I think indirectly, yes. Because for me, it makes it easier to adapt to a new environment. Because they're already here. It's not that I talk to them about whether I should come or not. Because I think for me, it wasn't the right thing to do. It was just about asking how they feel there and stuff like that.
"It's always nice to have friends there. To have friends who can help you and to help you develop. And also see their development since they arrived. So, yes," he added.
Freewheeling Conversation With Jurgen Klopp
Bakayoko also spoke to former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp before his transfer from PSV to Leipzig. Klopp doesn't hold a managerial role at the Bundesliga club but is the Global Head of Soccer at Red Bull, the owners of RB Leipzig. During the media conference, the Belgian attacker revealed that Klopp didn't push him to sign for Leipzig, instead highlighting the plan he should follow, the structure he should adopt, no matter which club he went to.
"We didn't even talk about him wanting me to come (here). It was really about football and what vision I have of football. And that was how I was thinking, like, okay. So as a person, he's not even there to push me to go. He didn't even talk to me, like, even if you go to some other club, then you have to do this to adapt better.
"That was like just a free-on talk, and he wanted to see how I am as a person. So I was thinking, like, okay, so if someone like this talks to you in this kind of way, and he wanted to build a project, and he wants, of course, you to be part of it, but he doesn't want to push you to be part of it. So he gives you the freedom to express yourself, and that's everything I need," he revealed.
At the end, Bakayoko decided to join Leipzig as he didn't feel he could freely express himself at the club, without feeling the pressure of doing something that he didn't want to.
"I don't want to feel like I'm pressured in some other way. I just want to feel like someone wants me to help this club. That's it.
"And that's what he told me, the way he wanted me to help the club and to perform, and they're going to help me. So that was like a vice versa, and that made me believe that was the right step."