FC Bayern has recently made a conscious effort to invest a lot of time and money in its training academy. The goal is to develop young players so that the record champion can either integrate them into its own roster or sell them.
Signing players at a young age and selling them at a profit after they’ve been developed can, in fact, be a kind of business model.
Christoph Freund, who, as sporting director, is also responsible for the campus, has now once again explained what Bayern’s plan for the campus is and what the club hopes to achieve in the future.
Freund explains: This is Bayern’s plan for the campus
“We want to develop many players to the point where they can contribute and become good players. Of course, not all players will develop into Bayern players. But many will make it to the Bundesliga,” said the Austrian.
In recent years, several young talents from FC Bayern have gone on to be loaned out or sold to prominent clubs. Noel Aseko first moved to Hannover and has now joined Eintracht Frankfurt; Maurice Krattenmacher now plays for SV Elversberg. Paul Wanner is now with PSV, and Frans Krätzig is with RB Salzburg. These are exactly the paths Freund described.
A key part of the plan, however, is clearly to always develop players who can make the big leap. “The greatest feeling, of course, is when we develop players who then succeed here with us. But it’s clear that we’ve done a pretty good job of raising players to a high level. We want to keep raising the bar at the campus so that the players come out of there even better,” Freund explained regarding Bayern’s plan.
Examples like Lennart Karl or Aleksandar Pavlovic from recent years also show that if you’re good enough, you can get playing time and establish yourself.
