Israeli Goalkeeper Already ‘Feels Like Family’ After Historic Transfer to German Soccer Club

Israeli goalkeeper Daniel Peretz said on Monday that the German soccer club Bayern Munich has made him feel “like family” since he officially joined the team late last week.

“It felt great from the second I landed from the plane,” said the 23-year-old at a press conference. “Like everyone wants to help and take care, and it really does feel like a family here. From the moment I came, the players really made me feel like home and I think it really helped me a lot to adjust as fast as possible to the new country, new club, [and] everything. I’m really glad.”

Peretz also said regarding his own style of play: “My dad always taught me to remain true to myself, and that’s my path.”

Bayern Munich officially announced on Friday that it finalized a five-year contract with Peretz through June 2028, following his leave from Maccabi Tel Aviv. The teams did not publicly reveal the transfer fee, but German media reported that Bayern will pay Maccabi $5.4 million for Peretz, Reuters reported.

Peretz is Bayern’s first Israeli player and will wear No. 18 on his jersey — a symbolic decision since in Hebrew the number 18 represents the word chai, which means life. Peretz explained that he chose the number on his jersey and hopes it will bring him luck.

At the press conference, Bayern Munich CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen commented on the soccer club signing its first Israeli player.

“Keeping in mind the Jewish background our club has it’s something special, but on the other hand it doesn’t really matter,” he told media. “The upbringing, gender, sexual orientation doesn’t really matter for us. It only matters that we play good football. It took so long for us [to sign an Israeli player], but hopefully it’s gonna last long with Daniel.”

Dreesen also praised Peretz’s skills, saying the athlete impressed Bayern at the Under-21 Championship in Georgia. The team CEO added: “It’s one thing to play good football but talent is not everything. Like everything else in life, you need passion, energy, and discipline, and we saw that in Daniel and that’s why we chose [him] in the end … Daniel is a goalkeeper we have been watching for quite a while, [and] we are absolutely looking forward to having him.”

Peretz, who reportedly has a German passport, said he first heard of the club’s interest in him during a training session with Maccabi Tel Aviv.

“My agent told me there was an interest, and I was very happy because it’s a club that I’m a fan of since I’m a kid. I was really happy,” he said. Peretz added that Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer is his “idol,” saying, “I met him yesterday, he’s such a good guy, very humble, and I’m really looking forward to starting and training together.”

In 1932, Bayern Munich had a Jewish president, Kurt Landauer, and Jewish manager, Richard Kohn. Both were forced out of the club after Nazi forces seized control in Germany, but Landauer returned to lead the club in 1947 after surviving the Dachau concentration camp, according to Ynet. He was at first a goalkeeper for the team after its founding in 1900, and under his leadership as president, he brought in Jewish coach Richard Dombi.

Between 1933 and 1945, at least 21 of Bayern Munich’s 41 board members were members of the Nazi Party, and the club fired all Jews and non-Aryans from it staff starting in 1935, before they were required to do so by German law, Ynet reported.

In 2015, the team renamed the plaza in front of its stadium Kurt-Landauer-Platz and erected a memorial plaque of his face. FC Bayern fans additionally created the Kurt Landauer Foundation and a statue of Landauer also stands at the club’s headquarters.

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