Bayern Munich fans may remember Felipe Chávez, the talented youth player who dazzled in the January friendly against RB Salzburg before going on to make two Bundesliga appearances under Vincent Kompany. Those appearances and his strong first half of the season with the U-23s saw him land a loan move to Bundesliga club 1. FC Köln, who loaned him out to the end of the 2025/26 Bundesliga season with an option to buy.
Unfortunately, Bayern fans may also remember the 5-1 victory over the Billy Goats on
the final day and recall how Chávez had been stapled to the bench, not even allowed to play for a single minute. It was unfortunately indicative of the Peruvian playmaker’s time in Köln. Despite putting in a lot of effort and even foregoing a call up to the Peru national team in March to focus on the club’s fight against relegation, Chávez only played 108 minutes in total for the Bundesliga side.
Therefore Florian Plettenberg‘s report that Chávez and Köln’s chapter together has ended is not much of a surprise:
1. FC Köln have decided not to activate the buy option for Felipe Chávez. The 19 y/o central midfielder will return to FC Bayern for now.
Now what for Chávez? The 19-year-old playmaker only renewed his contract to remain at Bayern at the very last possible moment back in 2025. He enjoys a good standing at Bayern and showed good flashes at Köln, so does he go on loan to another Bundesliga club? Do Bayern believe they have space for him? They probably do not, though, with Jamal Musiala and Serge Gnabry in the squad. Will they at least give him a chance during pre season? Or will Chávez have to play in a lower division?
BFW Analysis
The smart money is probably on a contract extension until 2028 at Bayern and a loan with a buy option for the former Augsburg youth player. As mentioned, Chávez did show flashes of serious quality at Bayern and Köln. The Bavarians’ general openness to loans with an option to buy will allow another Bundesliga club to take a stab at him without taking a serious risk with the chance of further developing that potential. This would be only his second loan spell, so he is not burned yet. He will have to choose his destination carefully and perform, though, because once a second loan spell goes awry it could be tough going for the youngster.
Honestly, it is also probably for the best he did not stay at Köln. New head coach Réne Wagner took over as an interim from the unpopular Lukas Kwasniok in late March, garnered a points per match total of under 1 point a game and managed to nearly pull Der Effzeh back into the relegation battle. He was then rewarded with a new contract until 2028. Wagner may turn things around, but, equally, perhaps Köln is a sinking ship and Chávez is better off somewhere else.
If you are looking for more Bayern Munich and German national team coverage, check out the latest episodes of Bavarian Podcast Works, which you can get on Acast, Spotify, Apple, or any leading podcast distributor…
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