Sayonara instead of Servus

ÖFB talent cancels Rangnick and flies to Japan

Christopher Olivier (center) is developing magnificently at VfB Stuttgart and is now allowed to travel to Japan with the professionals.(Bild: Peter Weihs/Kronenzeitung)

"Sayonara instead of goodbye" for Christopher Olivier! Instead of accepting ÖFB team boss Ralf Rangnick's invitation to the training course for promising players born between 2005 and 2008 in Lindabrunn, Lower Austria, from July 28 to 31, the Bregenzerwald native took off from Munich for Japan at lunchtime on Thursday.

There, the 18-year-old from Au will be promoting the German league with the VfB Stuttgart professionals until August 1 as part of the "Bundesliga Japan Tour", which already took Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayern Munich to the Land of the Rising Sun in 2022 and 2023 respectively. In addition to public training sessions, two test matches are also planned in Kyoto and Hiroshima.

For Olivier, who transferred to Swabia from the Vorarlberg academy in July 2022 and is actually destined for the second team, this is not only his first trip to Japan, but also a good opportunity to continue playing his way into the Champions League team's spotlight. Rangnick is also aware of this and should not really have a problem with the midfield talent's withdrawal.