Christmas has started early in Bavaria, as Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich have pulled off the signature of Bryan Zaragoza. Zaragoza, who plays for Spanish side Granada, has been one of the biggest revelations of La Liga this season, scoring five times and assisting two. He will stay with Granada until the end of the season, joining on a five-year deal. Bayern will pay €15 million for the 22-year-old winger, whose profile has risen considerably over the past few seasons.
In 2020, Zaragoza joined Club Polideportivo El Ejido, a side in the Segunda División B, the third tier of Spain. It was with El Ejido that he earned his first professional minutes, making 19 appearances and scoring an impressive goal — not the last time that would happen. He then took a step back (on paper, at least), moving down to the fourth tier with Granada’s reserves.
After bagging seven goals in the Segunda Federación, Zaragoza made the jump to the first team last season. In November 2022, he scored his first goal with the club — a beautiful solo run — and had his first assist in a 4-0 route of Albacete. The elusive forward still struggled for consistent minutes, however, until the end of the season.
With just three matches left in the season and Granada still fighting for promotion, Zaragoza started against CD Lugo. He didn’t need long to make an impact, making an impressive run into the box before slotting the ball into the back of the net just twenty minutes in. In his next match, Zaragoza was called off the bench against CD Mirandés, and again he delivered — this time with a brilliant first touch before beating two defenders and blasting the ball into the back of the net.
In Granada’s final match of the season — with promotion on the line — Zaragoza was given the start. He found the net once again, and, like any Zaragoza goal, it required some magic footwork and a top-bins finish. With that win, Granada went up in style, clinching first in the league — and Zaragoza’s three goals in his final three matches played a big role in that.
It only took three matches of the La Liga season for Zaragoza to steal headlines again. In the 46th minute, he picked up the ball near midfield, making a brilliant solo run before scoring with a trivela as Granada picked up their first win of the season. In their next match against Sociedad, Zaragoza hit another top-bins finish.
It was against Barcelona that he really took control, though. Just seventeen seconds into the match, Zaragoza’s powerful shot beat Marc-Andre ter Stegen to make it 1-0 for Granada. Less than 30 minutes later, he had Barcelona’s center-back Jules Kounde on skates before slamming his shot into the net, doubling Granada’s lead. Unfortunately, it would end in a 2-2 draw, with the post denying Zaragoza a late winner.
Since then, Zaragoza has not found the back of the net again, but he has still captured the eye with some riveting performances. Notably, his dribbling stands out: he leads the league in dribbles, per La Liga’s official website — with five more than the nearest competitor. He has ten more dribbles than Real Madrid’s wizard Vinicius.
While he’s not physically imposing — he’s just 5’4″ — Zaragoza is a nightmare for defenders to deal with. His footwork and speed make him a threat every time he touches the ball, as Kounde found out, while he is capable of unleashing unstoppable shots.
As he won’t join the club until the summer, Bayern fans will have to wait sometime to see their future star in Munich. However, it will be worth the wait — signing the Spanish talent for just €15 million may prove to be one of the club’s best signings in recent years.
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Image Courtesy of granadacf.es.
