Bayern Munich won the last Bundesliga match 5-0 against St. Pauli, has a 12-point lead over Borussia Dortmund with five games to go, and has scored 105 goals in 29 league matches. We could go on listing absurd records and astronomical figures for hours, for entire articles, but in this case, the point is different: while it was doing all this, while practically disintegrating all records in the history of the German league, Vincent Kompany’s team also indulged in the luxury of giving debuts to as many as eight players still teenagers, that is, aged between 16 and 19 years.
The latest name to be added to this list is Bara Sapoko Ndiaye, an 18-year-old Senegalese midfielder who made his debut in the last Bundesliga match against St. Pauli. Before him, looking only at league matches, Kompany has given at least one minute on the field to Erblin Osmani (16-year-old midfielder), Wisdom Mike (17-year-old winger), Cassiano Kiala (17-year-old defender), Maycon Cardozo (17-year-old winger), Felipe Chávez (19-year-old midfielder), and David Santos Daiber (19-year-old midfielder). And of course, there is also Lennart Karl, who has made 24 appearances and scored five goals in the Bundesliga, even though he turned 18 on February 22.
If we also look at other competitions, namely the Champions League, Cup, and German Supercup, we find that Bayern has also fielded Filip Pavic (16-year-old defender) and Deniz Ofli (19-year-old full-back). Plus Jonah Kusi-Asare, an 18-year-old forward who had already debuted last year and who moved on loan to Fulham in January. Total: eleven teenage players used in official competitions this season, practically an entire team. And Kompany could have done even more, as he has often included 16-year-old Prescott, 18-year-old Della Rovere, and 19-year-olds Bartl, Klanac, and Fernández among the call-ups.
All these boys have had different paths, in the sense that some come directly from Bayern’s youth sector, while others arrived in the last transfer windows. What does not change, however, is the attention that Kompany and the entire coaching staff of the Bavarian club dedicate to the growth of their player-assets. The fact that Karl – by far the brightest young talent launched by Bayern since Musiala – entered the first team rotations before even turning 18 is just the tip of a truly enormous iceberg, an iceberg made of insights, daily work, and medium-to-long-term vision. All things that make a difference, and that help to shatter records and maintain a sustainable model.