Lennart Karl: Bayern Munich's teenage Mesut Ozil regen set for a big breakthrough in the Bundesliga

He might be Bayern's next big thing, but Karl actually hails from nowhere near Munich, albeit he's still Bavarian, having been born in February 2008 in Frammersbach in mid-west Germany, not far from Frankfurt.

He took the first steps on the long road to becoming a professional footballer at Viktoria Aschaffenburg, a short distance from his hometown, aged seven in 2015. After catching the eye there, a move into the youth system of local Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt two years later was the natural progression on Karl's upward trajectory, honing his skills there on the futsal court.

But Die Adler did not keep hold of him and, after a brief return to Aschaffenburg, he was snapped up by Bayern Munich in 2022, joining up with the academy at FC Bayern Campus.

Initially, it didn't seem like Karl would come so far so quickly, as he struggled to juggle football and his education. "To be honest, things didn't go well in my last U16 season," he said in a recent in-house interview. "I had fluctuations in my performances and didn't score many goals. I wanted to change that. In preparation for the U17 season, I did additional training, either on my own or with a coach from the campus. That helped me a lot - mentally and physically."

There was certainly a shift in the next campaign, and Karl is fresh from a season that has propelled him into the first-team picture at the Allianz Arena at the age of 17. It began with him making an outrageous 33 goal contributions in just 14 games for the Under-17s, including a five-goal haul against Unterhaching to get the campaign underway.

Those obscene statistics inevitably saw him bumped up two age grades to the U19s late in 2024 as Bayern looked to fast-track his development. By that point he had already done enough to earn links to European giants Real Madrid and Ajax, and he would make an immediate impression mixing it with the big boys, too, scoring against Augsburg's U19s on his debut.

In March, he netted a hat-trick of near-identical left-footed goals from an Arjen Robben-esque position, and later the same month he went on a sublime slaloming run to score a sensational individual goal. 

An outrageous return of 34 goals in 30 appearances across the U17s and U19s was ultimately too good for head coach Kompany to ignore, and Karl was handed his first-team bow as a half-time substitute in the 10-0 rout of Auckland City at the Club World Cup, having failed to make it off the bench for the senior side on five previous occasions.

That was the preface to Karl being formally inducted into the senior side ahead of 2025-26, and emerged as the unlikely star of Bayern's pre-season games as he made a genuine claim for a starting berth in the season proper.

Having played another half in the friendly victory over Lyon, the attacker scored just seven minutes after coming off the bench against Tottenham - bending a wonderful, first-time effort past Guglielmo Vicario from the edge of the penalty area to announce himself in front of the Allianz Arena crowd.

The next day, Die Roten confirmed the teenager had signed a new three-year youth contract to put an end to any speculation surrounding him for the time being, with a view to a longer professional deal once he turns 18 in February 2026. The youngster also inherited Jamal Musiala's old No.42 shirt after his fellow academy graduate took the No.10.

Karl celebrated by starring in Bayern's final pre-season friendly against Grasshoppers. He opened the scoring with another stunning strike, taking aim from distance before thumping a left-footed strike perfectly into the inside of the side netting, before showing off his dribbling skills on the right flank and laying the ball off to fellow youngster Jonah Kusi-Are to crash home the winner.

Those pre-season displays led Karl to claim he was ready for more first-team action. "Everything went well in the friendlies," he told the media. "Now I definitely want to get playing time in the bigger games, for example against Stuttgart in the Supercup or in the Bundesliga."

However, he was forced to settle for a place on the bench in the DFL-Supercup victory over Stuttgart, with Kompany introducing him with just one minute left on the clock.

At international level, Karl has starred throughout the age grades for Germany and is currently in the U17s squad. He provided a ridiculous 11 goal contributions in six games in qualifying for the U17 European Championship, although he was unable to make an impact at the tournament proper as his nation bowed out early.

A No.10 who is equally adept playing out wide, Karl is a demon in the half-spaces, drifting inside menacingly from the right flank to get involved in the build-up, go on a mazy dribble or unleash a fierce left-footed strike, with his recent goals in the first team reflecting his shooting ability from long range. Indeed, the teenager has already earned comparisons to Bayern legend Robben due to the regularity with which he cuts in from the right and takes aim. It turns out that is something he's been working on.

"I actually practised that specifically at the start of the season. It's since become automatic," Karl revealed. "I don't even think much about it in the moment. It just feels right. The goals then came naturally."

In terms of his other strengths, Karl sums it up pretty nicely, although he is probably underselling his lightning-quick feet, close control and and vision for a pass: "I'm very quick over the first few metres, like to go one-on-one and have a good finish."

Speaking about Karl recently, Bayern's sporting director Christoph Freund said: "He’s very, very self-confident. That's one of his greatest strengths. He knows what he's capable of. You can see his quality on the pitch, too."

It's clear that Karl is ambitious and believes in his own ability, but he mustn't get ahead of himself after his impressive pre-season displays, especially given the plethora of attacking talent at the Allianz Arena. The youngster has made it clear that he is determined to get minutes in the Bundesliga, but he will probably have to bide his time and be patient, with reports suggesting he will be back-up to Michael Olise, who is a guaranteed starter after a stellar debut campaign in Munich.

In terms of his physical attributes, some might think Karl's slight 5'6 frame would put him at a disadvantage, but he sees it as one of his strengths. "At just under 1.70 metres, I'm not the tallest, but my low centre of gravity helps me to impose myself, especially when dribbling," he says. "I learnt early on to use it to my advantage. Of course, that also means that I have to work harder in physical areas, especially in strength training, so that I can hold my own better in duels."

Given his numbers, it's clear Karl's focus is on attacking - and rightly so. However, his defensive contributions could be better, with his work rate arguably not the best in terms of tracking back.

There are plenty of similarities with Chelsea talisman Cole Palmer, who is arguably at his best as a roaming half-winger playing off the right flank. Karl certainly looks capable of matching the Englishman's technical ability, and as we've touched upon, the young German has also been compared to Robben.

However, given his nationality, playing style and left-footedness, we reckon he is arguably most comparable to absurdly talented former Real Madrid and Arsenal sensation Mesut Ozil - another player blessed with sublime footwork, vision, an eye for the spectacular and that innate ability to glide across the turf.

Karl, though, idolises another ex-Madrid and current Arsenal star. "Martin Odegaard," he revealed. "He's also a left-footer, plays in the playmaker position, has good vision and a good shot. He also caught the eye of a big club [Real Madrid] early on and ultimately developed into a world-class player over several loan spells. He’s shown that patience and mentality are just as important as talent. But I really want to establish myself here at Bayern and one day play for the club in the Champions League."

Karl has made it abundantly clear that he feels he is ready for regular first-team minutes, and Freund claimed "the goal is for him to get playing time this season", but a one-minute cameo in the Supercup suggests he is going to have to be patient.

However, Kompany has made it clear that he sees a pathway for the 17-year-old, although it's clear there's some concern that Karl might decide to leave if he isn't given ample game time, rather than sign a professional contract once he turns 18 in February.

"Fortunately, I was also a young player myself at a good level - Champions League and all," Kompany told Sky Sports Germany. "So, I know the feeling. I know how you feel in those moments. You always have to choose the right moments. "[Lennart Karl] is in this squad, and we don’t have many other options. And that's obviously a sign of trust, otherwise we wouldn’t do this. A season has over 50 games. Let's have a Lennart Karl who doesn’t just play 10 games and then leave, but builds a career at Bayern Munich."

The head coach later added to Sport1: "We have a squad where everyone is fighting for game time. He's there. We got him from the U17s six months ago, that means everything he's experiencing now is a new step for him.

"For me it's very important that he builds a career at Bayern. It's also nice for the fans to have an academy player in the team. For me the most important thing is that he makes the right steps. At the moment he's doing great, not just with the goals, but with everything. He made the exact right first steps."