After earning 11 starts and scoring six goals for Vincent Kompany, Lennart Karl is no longer the starlet of Bayern Munich’s academy. He has officially moved into the senior squad and there is no looking back (unless Julian Nagelsmann is involved).
That means that the mantle has fallen to 16-year old center-back Cassiano Kiala. The young German has trained with the first team for most of 2025, but he finally made his senior debut in the 4-0 win over Heidenheim right before the winter break.
Kiala has
recently been linked to a number of Premier League clubs who were looking to snatch him up before he signed a long-term deal with Bayern. According to Fabrizio Romano, Bayern will retain Kiala for his professional career.
This is a major win for Bayern. Given his prestigious career as a center-back, Kompany is the perfect mentor for Kiala. Kiala needs to grow into his body but Kompany has shown the correct amount of patience with Bayern’s youngsters in his short, yet successful, tenure with the club.
Check out the latest episode of Bavarian Podcast Works on Spotify!
