Singh poised to emulate Rufer

All Whites midfielder Sarpreet Singh is set to follow in Wynton Rufer’s footsteps at Werder Bremen, with a transfer from Bayern Munich to the newly promoted Bundesliga club reported to be imminent.

German website DeichStube said Singh was set to join Bremen, who finished second in the secondtier 2.Bundesliga this year to book their return to the top flight.

It said club boss Klaus Filbry had teased an upcoming creative signing at a charity event and said Singh was that player.

While the move is yet to be officially confirmed, Rufer said it would be ‘‘a brilliant story’’.

Singh was involved with the All Whites’ great’s academy as a youngster in Auckland before joining the Wellington Phoenix.

Rufer said he was proud and thrilled that a Wynrs graduate was going to play for his former Bundesliga club and expected him to fit in well at Bremen, a proud working-class city in Germany’s north.

‘‘He speaks German and he’s been used to the German way for a few years.

‘‘They could have got him at the time of the Under-20 World Cup [in 2019],’’ Rufer added.

‘‘Ironically, how many years later, they are trying to sign him.’’

Before he was sidelined with a serious pelvic injury at the start of April, Singh was playing in 2. Bundesliga for Jahn Regensburg, on loan from German giants Bayern, and was one of the competition’s top attackers, racking up five goals and eight assists in 25 matches.

Singh joined Bayern from the Phoenix three years ago and made two first-team appearances in the Bundesliga in his first season, which he spent mostly playing for the club’s reserve side.

In his second, a challenging loan move to Nu¨ rnberg was cut short and he finished the season playing for Bayern’s reserve team once again.

He went out on loan again this past season, turning down the chance to play at the Tokyo Olympics in order to hit the ground running at Jahn Regensburg, which he duly did.

Singh has one year to go on his contract with Bayern. DeichStube reported that his move to Bremen was set to be a permanent one, which means a transfer fee will have to be paid, and the Phoenix will be in line for a cut of it.

The 23-year-old is just the second New Zealander to play in the Bundesliga after Rufer, who made 174 league appearances and scored 59 goals for Bremen between 1989 and 1995.

Rufer won the Bundesliga with them in 1993 and scored as they beat Monaco 2-0 to claim the European Cup Winners Cup in 1992.

Singh’s injury has kept him out of the All Whites’ push for a place at this year’s World Cup, which culminates in a playoff against Costa Rica next week in Doha, Qatar.