Last season was Felipe Chávez’s season. Starring in a false nine/attacking midfield position for Bayern Munich’s U-19s and notching an incredible 16 goal contributions in 13 games, the former Augsburg midfielder was quickly promoted to the U-23s in the winter and quickly won a starting spot in the lineup, too, going on to star in many games for Bayern’s oldest youth team. But with his contract expiring in the summer of 2025, it felt as if we were seeing the same old story we have seen plenty of times
with the likes of Angelo Stiller and Grant Leon Ranos. Players excel for the U-23s and realize, considering the big gap to the first team, there is no more development for them at Bayern.
Dramatically, however, Bayern announced on the day of the expiry of Chávez’s contract that he signed a new contract for an undisclosed number of years. While this may seem like a success, Bayern now need to show that this was the right decision and help push Chávez’s development forward. Kicker, as captured by @iMiaSanMia, offers some potential insight into Bayern’s strategy for the midfielder moving forward:
Felipe Chávez made his debut for Peru’s senior national team against Chile last night before having played any competitive games at professional level. For now, the 18-year old will continue to play for Bayern’s second team – but internally, he’s considered the next youngster to get match practice at a significantly higher level. Since that’s unlikely to happen at Bayern’s first team, a loan move could make sense for him.
Sure, the reaction may be to roll one’s eyes. Loaning a youngster out is again the solution for Bayern for what seems like the thousandth time? But the idea does have merit, especially considering the success Bayern loanees are currently experiencing this season. In order to show Chávez and all youth players that development at Bayern is still possible once one reaches and then surpasses the U-23s, a potential loan move will have to work well.
