The Bayern Campus is a hive of activity, with analysis, discussion and planning taking place in the offices, training on the pitches and work on the future of the German record champions in the background. Since August 2024, Markus Weinzierl has been pulling the sporting strings there. The former Bundesliga coach has taken on the role of sporting director and acts as a link between young talent and the professional squad. A job with great responsibility – and a clear vision.
Weinzierl brings a wealth of experience with him to Ingolstädter Straße. Relegation battles, promotion euphoria, European business – he has experienced it all as a coach. It is precisely this knowledge that the talents will now benefit from. His aim is to create structures that facilitate the transition from the campus to the first team. The proximity to the Allianz Arena is symbolic in this respect. The two locations are only a few kilometers apart, but in sporting terms there is a huge step in between, which needs to be prepared for in a targeted manner.
The campus as a strategic centerpiece
Since its opening in 2017, the campus has been a central component of Bayern’s philosophy. The club has invested around 70 million euros in infrastructure, training conditions and staff. Eight pitches, its own stadium, state-of-the-art athletics and analysis areas – the campus has long been more than just a classic youth training center. On average, talented players spend six and a half years there before it is decided whether they will make the leap into professional soccer.
Weinzierl sees this as clear progress, as he emphasizes in an interview with the Abendzeitung München. The development is measurable, he says, and the permeability has increased. Significantly more players from the campus now make it into professional soccer than a few years ago. Not everyone necessarily ends up at FC Bayern itself, but that is also part of the strategy. The club benefits both athletically and economically from strong training.
„Karl and Musiala are the cream of the crop“
When Weinzierl talks about individual players, it becomes clear what is important to him. Names such as Jamal Musiala and Lennart Karl are emblematic of the ideal image of the campus. Musiala came to Munich as a teenager and is now an undisputed top performer. Karl is regarded as the high-flyer of the current season, a talent who has literally imposed himself. Weinzierl openly describes such players as the „cream pieces“ of the training.
At the same time, he warns us to be realistic. Not every young player will follow this path. However, his wish is to train not only stars in the future, but also important squad players himself – players who would have cost tens of millions elsewhere. This requires one thing above all: real prospects with the professionals.
Development, prospects and economic value
A central point for Weinzierl is the composition of the first-team squad. Talented players can only develop if they have a real chance of playing time. Recent examples show that this idea is being put into practice more strongly at FC Bayern again. At the same time, it is true that the club also generated income from campus players in the summer. Weinzierl speaks openly about this and classifies it as part of a sustainable overall strategy: „I believe that we earned around €40 million with players from the campus in the summer.“
FC Bayern is the best club in Germany, he emphasizes, and the hurdle is correspondingly high. It is crucial that the training is right and that the players are prepared for professional soccer – regardless of where they end up. Experience in the men’s game, mistakes under competitive pressure and learning physical robustness are indispensable.
In the end, the conclusion is a positive one. With the Campus, FC Bayern has taken a big step forward in its work with young talent. Weinzierl’s task now is to continue to refine this path – so that talented players become professionals as often as possible. And a few may even become the next „cream of the crop“ for the record champions.