Nestory Irankunda’s dream start to life at Bayern Munich has Socceroos coach Graham Arnold excited by what the teen sensation can bring in crunch World Cup qualifiers.
Irankunda, 18, joined the German powerhouse in the off-season, initially working in their academy, but he has quickly been integrated into the first team.
That has included exciting cameos off the bench in friendlies and a recent Cup game, while also drafted into Vincent Kompany's extended squad - even though he didn't take the field - for Bayern's Bundesliga opener.
"It's been a great start for the kid, to be honest,” Arnold said at Wednesday’s announcement the Socceroos will play Saudi Arabia at Melbourne’s AAMI Park on November 14.
"Rene Meulensteen has been to Bayern Munich to visit the kid and to see how he was, and he's in great spirits. He's so happy. The move so far has been excellent for him.
"Obviously, I've been watching his games when he does come on or when he does play.
"But I've spoken to the kid, and he says he still pinches himself that he's training with this calibre of players, and the kid's only going to learn and get better from that.
"So it's great that he's fitted in very well and very quickly."
The Socceroos return to action against Bahrain on the Gold Coast on September 5.
They play Indonesia away five days later, China in Adelaide on October 10, then Japan away on October 15.
Irankunda debuted against Bangladesh in June, and scored his first goal via a penalty against Palestine.
"I'll be interested to see the difference in him in just three months since the Bangladesh and Palestine games, where he was very impressive," Arnold said.
"There'll be a lot of work on his fitness levels. I think there'll be quite a lot of work in the gym for him.
"Over there in Germany they're playing two, three games a week, and he's got to get used to that, where obviously back here it's one game a week.
"Those type of changes are significant, but his body will change for sure."
Arnold had no plans of leaving Irankunda in Germany to settle, nor Harry Souttar to remain in England after a strong start at new club Sheffield United.
"For me, the most important thing is we get our strongest squad here," he said.
"It's a FIFA window, clubs have to release."
Arnold delighted in Jackson Irvine and Connor Metcalfe thriving at newly promoted Bundesliga club FC St Pauli, and Alessandro Circati starting at Serie A returnees Parma.
But he indicated Ipswich's Premier League debutant Massimo Luongo would remain in retirement.
Arnold, who confirmed striker Apostolos Stamatelopoulos had a quad injury, is facing a goalkeeper selection dilemma ahead of the September window.
Mat Ryan (Roma) and Joe Gauci (Aston Villa) aren't first-choice goalkeepers at their clubs, with only Paul Izzo (Randers) playing regularly.
A-League Men duo Lawrence Thomas (Western Sydney) and Andrew Redmayne (Sydney FC) are out of season.
"It's more of a concern for the nation overall because the old days we used to have goalkeepers galore," Arnold said.
