Franck Ribery's Brother Steven in Training with Bayern Munich Under-19s

Bayern Munich are keeping it in the family, as Ballon d'Or candidate Franck Ribery has been joined in Germany by his little brother Steven.

Steven Ribery has been working with the Under-19 team of the European champions, and he is not the only famous relative at that level. Seventeen-year-old Lucas Scholl—the son of German star Mehmet—is also playing at the same level, according to Stephan Uersfeld of ESPN.

"It’s true. He is training with us," the head of Bayern Youth Academy Michael Tarnat told Abendzeitung Munich (translated by ESPN).

Steven Ribery was reportedly on the brink of quitting the game after coming through the youth system at Lens.

According to the ESPN article, it was Franck's intercession which got him back into the game at Bayern. Ribery said of his brother:

"He's trained harder than ever, he has trained twice a day and he's lost 10 or 12 pounds. I want him to be successful. It will show on which level. But he has got quality."

Ribery himself took some time to settle at the club level. Though his talent was clear from an early age, he played for a host of clubs in France and even had a brief spell with Galatasaray in Turkey before he finally settled at Bayern.

Having joined the German giants in 2007, he has been a fixture of their team.

But in the six years before that, he played for six different clubs.

Following in the family footsteps is not unheard of in football. Eden Hazard has two less well-known siblings—one, Thorgan, is on the books at Chelsea like his brother (although currently loaned out to Belgian club Zulte Waregem).

And recently, David Beckham's son Brooklyn hit the headlines after reported trials with Manchester United.