'Communication mistake' - Bayern Munich boss Vincent Kompany addresses Lennart Karl's bombshell Real Madrid transfer admission after wonderkid's apology

In a bombshell interview at a Bayern supporter event earlier this week, Karl admitted he “definitely” harbours the ambition to represent La Liga heavyweights Real at some point in his career, much to the surprise of the Allianz Arena faithful.

“FC Bayern is a very big club,” Karl said. “It's a dream to play there. But at some point, I definitely want to go to Real Madrid. That's my dream club, but that stays between us. Of course, Bayern is something very special and it's a lot of fun.”

However, Bayern sporting director Christoph Freund was quick to leap to Karl’s defence, saying the attacking midfielder has apologised to the club’s hierarchy following his comments.

Speaking after the German side’s mid-season friendly with Austrian side Red Bull Salzburg on Tuesday, Freund said of Karl’s transfer admission: “I think that’s just Lenny. Anyone who knows Lenny knows that. That’s how he plays football too.

“He wears his heart on his sleeve, he doesn’t give a damn, as we say around here – even on the pitch. He talks like a 17-year-old boy. He was immediately aware that it was unfortunate. He apologised the next day, and we talked about it.

“He said, ’That’s not what I meant at all’ - he feels extremely comfortable at FC Bayern. He’s really enjoying this time. As a kid, he had a trial with Real Madrid – that was his dream club. He was asked who his dream club was besides FC Bayern. He is 17 years old and very happy at FC Bayern. And we are very happy that he is with us.”

And now Karl has received support from manager Kompany, who felt there was no need to pull the Germany Under-21 international to one side after he responded by working “really hard” in training this week.

Addressing the media in his pre-match press conference ahead of Bayern’s clash with Wolfsburg on Sunday, Kompany said: “I tried to look at it from a distance. I'm looking at the bigger picture and the context: what’s a 17-year-old Lennart Karl doing every day? He trains well and really hard. How many 17 year olds are doing that? 

“He works extremely hard for the team defensively, he delivers every single day in training, games and in meetings. Maybe he made a small communication mistake, but the bigger picture for him at 17: he's still focused on the right things. He had a really good training week. He's done so much to earn his minutes. 

“He called Christoph and Max straight away and apologised for what he said. I tried to be the only person who doesn't talk to him about this. TikTok spoke about this, Instagram spoke, BILD spoke, Kicker, Sky, whatever, everyone had an opinion. So I tried to be the only one who doesn't speak to him about it.”

While Kompany was keen to put his arm around Karl’s shoulder, the former Burnley and Anderlecht boss has revealed he was unable to shield the youngster from his Bayern team-mates, who have made him the butt of the dressing room jokes this week.

Kompany added: “His team-mates teased him a bit about it - it was fun. If he trains badly then he has a problem with me. If he doesn't give 100% then he has a problem with me. But he did the opposite, he trained and played really well and worked really hard. He apologised. It's still okay for me.”

Bayern return to Bundesliga action following the winter break when they entertain Wolfsburg on Sunday afternoon. Karl will be hoping to make up for his comments about Real by continuing his remarkable form for Kompany's men in 2025-26.

The academy graduate has netted six times in all competitions for Bayern this season, becoming the club’s youngest ever goalscorer in the Champions League, as well their youngest player to score and assist in a Bundesliga game.