On Wednesday, it was reported that Bayern Munich have agreed to sell its young attacking midfielder Paul Wanner to Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven.
Sky TV reported on Wednesday that PSV will pay at least €15 million for the 19-year-old Wanner, who was due to arrive in the Netherlands for the medical later on Wednesday.
The Wanner deal is the latest twist in a saga where the reigning champions are being heavily blamed for not offering their academy players enough chances to shine, especially on the back of one of the most disappointing transfer windows in decades for Vincent Kompany's men.
Bayern's reluctance to integrate academy players into the first team squad isn't new but the topic resurfaced during the beginning of the Club World Cup when former Bayern defender and German international Marcus Babbel questioned Kompany’s refusal to make use of young talents such as Lennart Karl, who featured for only 45 minutes in the first match of the competition against Auckland City before he was sidelined for the remainder of the competition.
Mario Krischel, who covers Bayern Munich for German media Kicker, told Flashscore that he feels the criticism against Kompany is partly justified.
"There have been opportunities to make use of the youngsters where he didn’t take them, for instance, at the first game at the CWC against Auckland City.
"It was a team that corresponds to the fourth or fifth division in Germany, so certainly he could have given some of the academy players (Karl, Leon Klanac, Cassiano Kiala, Jonah Kusi-Asare, Adam Aznou, and Maurice Krattenmacher were all part of the squad) a chance to play instead of always making substitutions with Serge Gnabry or Sascha Boey."
Under-19 players only managed to get 110 minutes of game time in total with the first team at Bayern last season, and if you take a look at the total minutes other big clubs afforded to emerging youth talents and/or debutants, it shows a deep contrast. Liverpool had 975 minutes of play while PSG had 966 and Real Madrid had 570, respectively.
Krischel, however, underlines that the discussion over whether Bayern should follow in the footsteps of some of their international competitors in terms of offering academy players more playing time isn't as black and white as some football experts would like to make it out to be.
"The starting XI at Bayern has the potential to win the Champions League, and when you have quality like that, it's difficult to see where the youngsters fit in. If you see players like Lamine Yamal, Pedri, and Gavi, these are exceptional players, and it’s easier for any coach to pick players like that.
"Sometimes it takes players a long time to develop into where you can say, 'Ok, they seem ready to play for Bayern.” Bayern made so much money with Joshua Zirkzee moving to Bologna and then later to Manchester United. And can you say today that Zirkzee should be a Bayern player? I don’t think so."
Like Wanner, Aznou's departure for Everton has been singled out as an example of where Bayern were more keen on offloading one of the most talented players in Europe rather than giving him a chance to shine at the club.
Bayern's sports director, Max Eberl, defended the club's decision to let him go, saying “One can’t force a dog to hunt”, laying blame on Aznou’s patience and alleged commitment to the club.
Mario Hirschel says that Aznou's departure was tough to call. "You can understand his frustration and the frustration of the fans, but Adam Aznou was not known as a guy who was willing to fight for his chance at Bayern. They sold him for €9 million, and in Everton’s first game of the season, he wasn’t even in the squad, so you have to see how he develops to say if Bayern made a mistake selling him. "
When it comes to transfers, there's a saying in Germany that "what Bayern want, Bayern get". That might have been true in the past, but not necessarily anymore, as Kompany prepares to head into the new season on the back of one of the most disappointing transfer windows in decades for the German club.
The Bayern management did manage to attract Bayer Leverkusen's Jonathan Tah and Liverpool's Luis Diaz to Saberner Strasse, but they missed out on Florian Wirtz and Stuttgart's Nick Woltemade. At the same time, they said goodbye to Leroy Sane (Galatasaray) and Thomas Muller (Vancouver Whitecaps).
“It’s probably one of the smallest squads I’ve ever played in,” says striker Harry Kane, according to SKY Germany. “We have some young players who have done very well in pre-season. We’re a bit thin, but that’s not in the players’ control.”
Mario Krischel underlines that even though Kompany seemingly doesn't trust the academy players as much as the regulars, the thin Bayern squad could force him to change his reluctance to field the youngsters.
"I think Bayern will probably sign two players before the window closes because at the moment you have six attacking players, where two of them are youngsters, so you only really have four players for four positions.
"At the beginning of the season, Kompany will be forced to offer more minutes to Lennart Karl, which is also the plan, and with a squad that is this thin, there is no question that Kompany will have to use the academy players more."
Bayern begin their Bundesliga campaign on Friday evening (20.30 CET) at home at the Allianz Arena against RB Leipzig.
Follow the game with Flashscore.
