Lennart Karl is one of the biggest winners of the past season at FC Bayern. The 18-year-old made the leap from the youth academy to the professional ranks, made his debut for the German national team and is now considered one of the most promising talents in Europe. The attacking player has now revealed the decisive moment that shaped his development
In an interview with Bayern Magazine 51, Karl looked back on a difficult phase of his youth, with a disappointing season at U16 level turning out to be the turning point of his career
Karl was regarded as an exceptionally talented player from an early age, but it was during his U16s that he learned for the first time that talent alone is not enough to achieve lasting success
„I realized back then that it’s not enough to have a certain amount of talent. It’s the basis if you have it, but attitude is more important in the end,“ explained the Bayern professional
One season in particular sticks in his mind: while many things had previously worked seemingly effortlessly, suddenly hardly anything came together
Frustration became a driving force
„Nothing worked that season, neither in training nor in matches,“ Karl recalled
Instead of blaming others, the attacking player drew the consequences himself. The current international began to put in extra sessions and worked on his weaknesses on his own
„At some point, I just started going out on the pitch on my own: practising finishes, working on my speed. The coaches saw me doing it, they certainly liked my commitment – and at some point, the performances came back,“ he reported
This change in mentality paid off, as Karl not only fought his way out of his performance slump, but also developed into one of the outstanding players on the Bayern campus over the following years
Kompany is impressed
His technical ability was undisputed anyway, but the decisive difference was his professionalism and willingness to work on himself outside of team training
It is precisely this attitude that Vincent Kompany values in his protégé, with the Bayern coach praising the attacking player’s work ethic and willingness to learn on several occasions last season
Karl’s success has proven him right: from a youth player with a difficult U16 season, he has developed into a Bundesliga professional, national player and FC Bayern hopeful in just a few years
His story impressively demonstrates that the path to the top is often not just about talent alone – but above all about the ability to use setbacks as motivation.