Irankunda signs a five-year deal with Watford
Nestory Irankunda has completed his move to Watford, with the Hornets already labelling the young Australian a "wonderkid" upon his arrival at the EFL Championship club.
Irankunda has signed a five-year deal from Bayern Munich thought to be in the region of €4 million ($7.1 million), and will wear numer 66.
“Nestory can be a very special player and we believe he can realise his potential here, with us,” Watford sporting director Gian Luca Nani said. “He is exactly the sort of profile [manager] Paulo [Pezzolano] wanted in a winger.
“Nestory was extremely sought-after and thanks to our established scouting network and connections we were able to be ahead of others in the race to sign players of this potential.
"Crucially, we were able to move quickly when opportunities like this arise and that’s been the hallmark of our successful recruitment. The player wanted to come here as he sees the pathway, he has seen how we develop young players at Watford and the vision we have for this club.
"We are absolutely delighted to have signed Nestory and he’s added further to the huge feel-good factor around the training ground.”
Irankunda shot to fame as a 15-year-old while playing for Adelaide United in the A-League, and moved to the Bundesliga champion in 2024.
But he has never played for Bayern and was sent out on loan to Grasshoppers, where he played 21 games in the Swiss Super League.
Irankunda made 55 appearances for the Reds in the A-League, and a move to the Championship is a significant step up in quality.
Irankunda has been capped five times by Australia with his first goal arriving in a FIFA World Cup qualifier against Palestine in June 2024, and despite falling out of favour with current coach Tony Popovic, he hopes this move will get him noticed and back in the Socceroos fold in time for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
