How Bayern Munich keeps wonderkid Lennart Karl grounded

Bayern Munich starlet Lennart Karl is — deservedly — getting a big heaping of hype. The 17-year-old winger has rocketed into stratosphere this season, scoring banger after banger and earning a steady dose

of playing time for a totally dominant side under second-year coach Vincent Kompany.

And the Bavarians know they will need to manage that hype to keep the youngster on his path.

“Many of the guys are looking out for him, talking to him. They tell him to enjoy this phase, but also that other phases will come,” Bayern sporting director Christoph Freund shared in an interview with Sky Germany, as captured by Tz. “He’s well-integrated in the squad.”

Karl has positively sparkled, from his fifth-minute goal against Club Brugge to his 81st-minute curler against Gladbach the very next game — to his start against Bayer Leverkusen in a 3-0 Bundesliga triumph.

“He simply loves playing football. He’s having fun, he wants to play,” Freund added. “It’s a great story, but we all know that hard work is the foundation. He trains very diligently — that’s crucial. Everything else will follow naturally.”

BFW Analysis

Karl is poised to do big things. He has all the gifts as well as the mentality and ambition. What he needs most, as with any youngster with his potential, is to keep his head in the game — and the whole club seems to recognize that. And what a great advertisement for the development platform FC Bayern has on offer it will be when he succeeds.

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Bayern Munich had a great win over Bayer Leverkusen and is now headed for a showdown with Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League. Let’s discuss everything going on with the club at the moment on this edition of the Bavarian Podcast Works Show. This is what we have on tap:

• A primer for Bayern Munich vs. Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League and what this matchday could be special for a number of teams.
• Some of Vincent Kompany’s wild ideas are paying dividends. The experiment with Tom Bischof at left-back achieved many goals and is one of the examples of how Kompany has built trust with in the team.
• News and notes from the AGM: Record turnover, the re-election of Herbert Hainer as president, and the continued struggle to make waves internationally with marketing. Can Bayern Munich break through in other countries or does this need to be more of an effort from other teams in the Bundesliga to make the league more marketable?
• Why has Bayern Munich and the league itself struggle to make in-roads abroad? Let’s explore.

Also, be sure to stay tuned to Bavarian Podcast Works for all of your up to date coverage on Bayern Munich and Germany. Check us out on Patreon and follow us on Twitter @BavarianFBWorks, @BavarianPodcast @TheBarrelBlog, @BFWCyler, @2012nonexistent, @TommyAdams71 and more.