Swedish midfielder Julia Zigiotti Olme has joined Bayern Munich on a free transfer after leaving Brighton. Zigiotti has signed a two-year contract and has already had her first training session with the German champions.
“It all happened very quickly,” Zigiotti told GIVEMESPORT. “I have joined a big club with a lot of history. When I first found out about the Bayern offer, I got very excited. It wasn’t something I expected, but I’m really happy to join.
“I have always strived to be at one of the top clubs in Europe, and now I have got the chance. Everyone here is so nice and caring. It’s been a really fun first few days.”
26-year-old Zigiotti spent two years at Brighton having joined them from Hacken in January 2022, along with her partner and fellow Sweden international Emma Kullberg. She made 65 appearances, scoring six times, and was named captain under former manager Jens Schuer.
“I moved to Brighton because I felt the Women’s Super League was the best league there is. It was also great to transfer at the same time as Emma. It helped to move together. To be honest, I was a bit of a pain to my agents in order to make it happen! When you change clubs, it is always about the football first, but joining at the same time thankfully helped our personal lives as well.
“Becoming captain was not something I expected. As a player I like to talk and help my team-mates, so it was a proud moment to become captain of a WSL team. Jens just told me before one of the games that I would be leading out the side. It puts pressure on you because as captain you’re supposed to be the voice of the team and if things are not working then it gets reflected on you. It was a big responsibility for me, but I like that extra pressure.
“Overall, Brighton had a lot of ups and downs, and some frustrations. If you count the two interim managers, they have changed coach five times since I joined. It’s hard because with every change you have to learn how the new coach wants to play and see whether they like you as a player. I always tried to show Brighton the best side of me.”
Zigiotti turned down a contract extension at Brighton after a difficult 2023/24 that saw her lose the captain’s armband under then manager Melissa Phillips. She still made 26 appearances in all competitions last season but felt the time was right to leave.
“When I lost the captaincy, I wasn’t too surprised,” Zigiotti revealed. “I could kind of tell during pre-season that Melissa wanted to go a different way. It was disappointing and tough mentally to have it, then lose it. The hardest part was I didn’t even get an explanation as to why.”
Zigiotti’s focus is now to break into a competitive midfield at Bayern and add to her 31 caps for Sweden. She will wear 16 at Bayern, the same number Kullberg had at Brighton and her best friend Filippa Angeldahl wears for Sweden.
“Right now, my goal is to get into the team and play as many minutes as I can,” said Zigiotti. “That’s my focus: to settle and eventually get playing time, and then win as many games and titles as possible.
“Bayern went ‘invincible’ in the league in 2023/24, and it’s pretty amazing to have the chance to potentially go unbeaten this season. I would like that on my CV. I’m just really happy to be here.
“Hopefully, moving to Bayern will also help me win further international caps. I get to play with my best friend, Filippa, in midfield, so that’s really cool. And even though I was a forward or number ten in the earlier part of my career, I’ll be playing for Bayern in a similar role to the national team. Being here can make me a better player, which will benefit Sweden as well.”
Zigiotti’s rise to Bayern has had its challenges, especially towards the back-end of her Hacken spell. She was forced to have surgery on both hips in December 2020 and was sidelined for six months. But she recovered in time to attract Brighton, making the switch right in the middle of the Covid pandemic.
“I had pain in my hips for over a year and took injections to handle it,” said Zigiotti. “But you can’t do that forever, so I needed to have the surgery. It was tough mentally to be out injured for half a year and to not be eligible for the Swedish national team.
“There were ups and downs, like a roller coaster. Sometimes all I wanted to do was to be with the team, and at other times it was hard to do that. I had an excellent support system, though, through both my family and my agency, Neverland Management. I think Neverland, with Michael Kallbäck and Meg Brakes, is one of the best agencies there is. They are so caring for the players and they fix everything you want.”
“Of course, after returning from injury, the pandemic hit. And all I wanted to do was play football and enjoy it again. In the beginning, I was in Sweden playing for Hacken and we could still train and be around friends and family. But once I came to Brighton, the rules were stricter. It was difficult. When I first arrived, I had to isolate in my hotel for a week because someone on the plane caught Covid.”
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