This guest post was written by Zach Lowy, Chief Editor and Social Media Manager of BreakingTheLines.com. Zach is a successful journalist and can be followed at @ZachLowy on X and @zachlowy.bsky.social on Bluesky. Zach’s work can also be found on FotMob, BetUS and others.
It has been nothing short of a meteoric breakthrough for Tom Bischof.
Born in Aschaffenburg, Germany, Bischof played for TSV Amorbach between 2008 and 2015 before making the move to TSG Hoffenheim. He gradually worked his way through
the academy before eventually making his professional debut on March 19, 2022, coming on for the final quarter-hour of a 3-0 defeat to Hertha Berlin. In doing so, Bischof became Hoffenheim’s youngest-ever debutant in the Bundesliga as well as the third-youngest player to play in the Bundesliga after Youssoufa Moukoko and Paul Wanner.
Despite competing with more experienced midfielders like Sebastian Rudy, Diadie Samassekou and Thomas Delaney, Bischof was able to make inroads in the first team by playing 11 times for Hoffenheim in the 2022/23 season, before playing 14 times in 2023/24, including once in the DFB-Pokal, and helping them qualify for Europe. However, it wasn’t until the 2024/25 season that Bischof was able to stake his status as one of the finest young talents in Germany. After missing the first two matches of the campaign with a capsular injury, Bischof played in each of Hoffenheim’s next 41 games (starting in 40), missing just one match vs. Borussia Dortmund due to yellow card accumulation.
Used mainly in central midfield, Bischof also deputized in more attacking roles like right winger and showcased his creativity, speed of thought, and dynamism throughout the 2024/25 campaign. What’s more, he also showed off the same goal-scoring prowess that caught the eye throughout his stay in Hoffenheim’s academy, having 21 goals and 16 assists for their U-17, U-19 and reserves before officially graduating from youth status and becoming a full-fledged senior player in 2024/25. It’s precisely these attributes that attracted the attention of Bayern Munich, who signed him to a contract through June 2029 on January 21 upon the expiry of his current deal at Hoffenheim.
Nine days later, Bischof scored his first-ever goal in European competition and assisted in Hoffenheim’s 4-3 win vs. Anderlecht in the UEFA Europa League league phase. Bischof ended the campaign with 5 goals and 2 assists in 31 Bundesliga appearances before being called up by Germany manager Julian Nagelsmann in June 2025. Having already represented them at the U-16, U-17, U-18, U-19, U-20 and U-21 levels, Bischof would make his debut for Die Mannschaft on June 8, replacing Leon Goretzka for the final half-hour in Stuttgart as France prevailed 2-0 to secure the UEFA Nations League Finals bronze medal. Whilst he initially looked set to join on a free transfer, Bayern paid around €300,000 to register him ahead of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, with Bischof making his first appearance for Bayern on June 24 in the final group stage match and playing the first 45 minutes of a 1-0 defeat to Benfica in Charlotte.
So far, Vincent Kompany has slowly eased Bischof into the team, with the 20-year-old coming on in the final 10 minutes against Chelsea, Hoffenheim, Pafos, Stuttgart and Eintracht Frankfurt, as well as playing a half-hour against HSV, by which time Bayern were already winning 5-0. The one exception to that rule came on September 26, when Bischof started alongside Goretzka in the double pivot and played the full 90 minutes in a 4-0 victory against Werder Bremen.
Bischof excelled in the Allianz Arena, completing three key passes (including one assist) and making seven recoveries and two tackles, and proving why he could very well be Goretzka’s long-term replacement for club and country. A left-footed box-to-box midfielder, Bischof thrives at driving towards the edge of the box and taking aim with a ferocious shot, as well as picking out his teammates with inch-perfect through balls, and whilst he doesn’t quite boast Goretzka’s physical prowess, he has a similar playing style and mix of technical finesse and incisiveness in the final third.
Whilst he’s going to have to bide his time behind Joshua Kimmich, Aleksandar Pavlović, and Goretzka, Bischof has already stood out thanks to his desire to position himself between the lines and keep the ball moving with intricate possession play, allowing the opponents to encircle him before evading the press with a superb drop of the shoulder. Moreover, he’s been able to lurk forward from midfield and exploit the defense with just the perfectly weighted pass, as well as dropping deep and orchestrating possession with his brilliant vision and decision-making.
He’s constantly looking to take the game to the opposition, receiving the ball in the half-spaces and twisting and turning his way into a dangerous shooting position or teeing it off to a teammate for an easy goal-scoring chance. These unique talents were on display against Werder Bremen, where he set up Konrad Laimer’s goal to seal the 4-0 thrashing on the cusp of extra time, as well as in the recently completed international break. After assisting Tom Rothe’s equalizer in a 3-2 defeat to Greece, Bischof assisted Assan Ouedraogo’s equalizer as Germany’s U-21s erased an early deficit and pulled off a last-gasp comeback to defeat Northern Ireland 2-1 in their qualifying match for the 2027 U-21 EUROs.
With just eight months left on his contract, it seems that we could be approaching Leon Goretzka’s nearly decade-long spell at Bayern Munich. But in Tom Bischof, Bayern might very well have the heir to his throne already sealed up.
This guest post was written by Zach Lowy, Chief Editor and Social Media Manager of BreakingTheLines.com. Zach is a successful journalist and can be followed at @ZachLowy on X and @zachlowy.bsky.social on Bluesky. Zach’s work can also be found on FotMob, BetUS and others.
