Huge praise: Jürgen Klopp compares Germany debutant to PSG megastar
Mika Baur made his debut against Serbia and at the same time became the DFB’s 1,000th international player. After the match, there was also special praise from Jürgen Klopp.
"We have now really seen that he is a wonderful footballer," the new Germany head coach said of the 22-year-old central midfielder from Celtic, who came on in the 77th minute in the 2-0 win on Thursday evening in Munich for the impressive Tom Bischof.
Afterwards, Klopp even reached for a lofty comparison and suggested Baur was following in the footsteps of Paris Saint-Germain's Vitinha.
"At a multiple Champions League winner, there is one player he constantly reminds me of. Not only visually, but also in terms of his whole make-up," Klopp said. Like the Portuguese playmaker in PSG's midfield, Baur also has black, curly hair and, like Vitinha, is not tall.
Klopp praises Mika Baur's move to "the nastiest league in the world"
Speaking to ZDF after the final whistle, Baur called it a "surreal" moment as his substitution fulfilled his dream of playing for the national team. As recently as last season, he was playing for SC Paderborn in the second division and won promotion to the Bundesliga with the East Westphalians. Celtic then came calling in the summer, and Baur surprisingly moved to Scotland for a hefty six million euros.
Klopp called it a remarkable step, noting that the Scottish Premiership is "the nastiest league in the world" and that "to hold your own there with those physical attributes and to put yourself through that, that is very special".
Since arriving in Glasgow, Baur has been a regular and even scored his first goal for his employers at the start of September. However, the 22-year-old has already suffered heavy setbacks in his new home. Against LASK, Celtic threw away a 3-0 lead from the first leg, lost the second leg 5-1 and therefore missed out on a place in the Champions League. Domestically, there have also already been two memorable defeats against their arch-rivals. Rangers beat Celtic both in the league (1-0) and in the cup quarter-final (3-0).
Even so, Celtic manager Martin O'Neil has also already waxed lyrical about his new protégé. "He is a player with outstanding attributes and great technique. Mika will play an important role in our build-up play and is also very versatile."
