Broken bridge to the top? Bayern’s youth players feeling left behind | OneFootball

Even though many stars have come through the Bayern academy, not as many have actually had their breakthrough in the red and white colours:

Angelo Stiller, Joshua Zirkzee, Kenan Yildiz and many more have recently proven to be more than good enough for the biggest stage in football - but they didn't receive a fair chance when they played for Bayern's youth team.

Why is the integration into Munich's first team so difficult? Even Jamal Musiala, one of the biggest stars and best footballers in the world right now, and Aleksandar Pavlović have only gotten a chance at Bayern due to a period of many big injuries to first team players.

Despite the fact there are around 40 international youth players in Bayern's academy right now, which were born between the years of 2006 and 2009, there has not been enough first-team integration recently:

U19 players only had a combined 53 minutes of game time with the first team last season. That should change, according to sporting director Christoph Freund, who talked to “Sport Bild”:

“At the Club World Cup in the USA, we deliberately gave many talented players the opportunity to spend a longer period with the first team. Lennart Karl, Adam Aznou, Leon Klanac, Cassiano Kiala, Jonah Kusi-Asare, David Santos Daiber and Wisdom Mike will continue to train regularly with the pros.”

Adam Aznou, who already gained experience in La Liga last season when he was on loan at Real Valladolid, is especially frustrated: he could've played with the Moroccan national team, but was deliberately left out so he could play for Bayern - he only managed to play 8 minutes in 5 games at the Club World Cup.

“We have big confidence in these young players: everyone has the chance to make their own way. The door is open - that also applies to other talented players. Almost 50% of our youth players become professionals. This means that FC Bayern's ability to promote talent into professional football is very good, both in Germany and internationally,” continued Freund.

Bayern just have to find a way to integrate young players into their squad more often, as the talent is seemingly not a problem. Lennart Karl has been tipped for a promising 2025/26 campaign - with Jamal Musiala injured for the first few months of the season and Paul Wanner on the verge of another loan move, maybe Karl could get the chance to prove himself in Bayern's first team.

If not, then maybe other youth players will follow the path of the highly rated and talented Nestory Irankunda: one of Australia's biggest talents in years joined Bayern in 2024 - and already left the club to join Watford in the Championship due to him not being included in Bayern's first team.

Let's see in wich direction this problem will develop over the coming year.