Bayern Munich: Christoph Freund aims to unearth more talent from academy
The 2022/23 campaign was a rollercoaster for Bayern Munich. They managed to win the Bundesliga title on the final day of the season in the most dramatic way, but it was an underwhelming campaign by their high standards. The poor campaign on and off the pitch led to the departure of Hasan Salihamidzic.
Salihamidzic was appointed as the sporting director by Bayern in 2017. The former Bayern midfielder had a mixed tenure in terms of transfers, but the team achieved significant success in the last five seasons, including the treble in 2020. However, the way Bayern failed on the pitch last season and the poor handling of Julian Nagelsmann’s departure meant Salihamidzic had to leave the club.
Bayern managed to part ways with Salihamidzic on an amicable note, which allowed him to be part of the title celebration at the end of the season. The Bavarian club worked on transfers throughout the summer without a sporting director as CEO Jan Christian-Dressen led the negotiations, while Technical Director Marco Neppe and head coach Thomas Tuchel had a significant say in transfers.
Things will change from September 1 at Bayern as RB Salzburg’s sporting director, Christoph Freund, takes charge at Bayern. While talking to the media during the unveiling presser (via iMiaSanMia), Christoph Freund admitted that Bayern needs to find the right balance between signing top stars and integrating young talent from the academy into the senior squad.
"“The most important thing is that we achieve our goals. It is important, also economically, to develop our own top talent. But we will always bring top stars. We want to promote players from the Campus. That’s a very important mix.”"
Jamal Musiala has been the biggest success story for Bayern in the last few seasons when it comes to integrating young players from junior teams. The German midfielder arrived from Chelsea at a young age and steadily became a key player for the senior team at Bayern. To a certain extent, Josip Stanisic can also be considered a success as he has fared well for the first team.
The record Bundesliga champions cannot compete financially with Premier League clubs and state-backed clubs, so they need to find a way to remain competitive on the pitch. Nurturing the young talent in a better manner and having a clear pathway for them in the first team will ensure that Bayern don’t have to dip into the market for every position.
Along with developing the young talent in the academy, Bayern also needs to be attentive in the market for young players. They made the right call by signing Alphonso Davies from the Vancouver Whitecaps before he took the massive step up. He is now one of the best full-backs in Europe.
Next. Manuel Neuer takes big step towards return. dark
Want your voice heard? Join the Bayern Strikes team!
Christoph Freund has done a very good job at RB Salzburg in terms of identifying young talent and creating the right plan for them to succeed at the senior level. Bayern will hope that Freund is able to achieve similar results as he did at Salzburg.