Despite his move to Hoffenheim: Nathan De Cat remains a topic of discussion at Bayern | OneFootball

With Nathan De Cat, TSG Hoffenheim has signed one of Belgium’s most promising young talents. FC Bayern is said to have closely monitored the 17-year-old previously—and will apparently continue to follow his development closely in the future.

By signing Nathan De Cat, TSG Hoffenheim has secured the services of one of Europe’s most promising midfielders. The 17-year-old transferred from Belgian record champion RSC Anderlecht to the Bundesliga and is said to have cost around 20 million euros.

As transfer insider Christian Falk reports, FC Bayern will continue to closely monitor the development of the Belgian U-national team player despite his move to Hoffenheim.

Bayern had already had De Cat on their radar

According to the report, the Munich club had been closely monitoring De Cat over the past few months and regularly scouting the central midfielder.

However, a concrete transfer did not materialize. One reason for this is said to be the record champion’s current squad planning. In central midfield, Bayern will be relying more heavily on Tom Bischof next season, who is expected to play a larger role in Vincent Kompany’s team going forward.

De Cat isn’t completely out of the picture, though.

The Bundesliga as the ideal stage for his development

Photo: IMAGO

Falk even sees the move to Hoffenheim as an advantage for FC Bayern: “They know he has the skills they’re looking for, but right now, the midfield position isn’t a problem. So it’s good that they can keep an eye on the 17-year-old at Hoffenheim while he’s playing in the Bundesliga, rather than on the international transfer market.”

Expectations for the new signing are high at TSG as well. Sporting Director Andreas Schicker described De Cat as “one of the greatest talents in European soccer” and announced that he would give him the time he needs to develop.

The Belgian himself cited the prospects in Hoffenheim as the reason for his move. TSG had courted him “very early on and persistently.” He also sees ideal conditions there to continue developing in a top-five European league and to gain valuable international experience through the Europa League.

For FC Bayern, this should make it particularly easy to track De Cat’s development in the future—week after week in the Bundesliga.