Five months on from his hip injury, the 17-year-old left winger returned as a second-half substitute for Bayern Munich reserves in Saturday's Regionalliga match against 3. Liga relegated side 1. FC Schweinfurt 05. Mike could not make a decisive impact and the game finished 1-1. It was new head coach Dante's side's first point of the season after opening with two defeats.
Mike suffered a serious muscle injury to his left hip in training in March and was ruled out afterwards. Since mid-July, he has been back in regular team training and most recently joined the first team at their training camp in Tegernsee. He did not travel on the Asia tour, though. Instead, he worked with Dante's reserve side to step up his comeback without unnecessary strain.
FC Bayern: Maycon Cardozo played his way into the spotlight
At Bayern Munich, Mike is viewed as one of the club's biggest talents. Last summer he stepped up to the first team alongside Lennart Karl, but unlike Karl, who is around half a year older, he needed a little more time. Mike made his Bundesliga debut against Werder Bremen last September, then added four more appearances before the setback in March.
Even after his comeback, Mike could still leave on loan this summer. Most recently, Sky reported that there were many interested parties from Germany and abroad.
While he was out, fellow 17-year-old Maycon Cardozo pushed himself into the picture on the left wing. Coach Vincent Kompany is reportedly so pleased with the Brazilian's development during pre-season that, contrary to the original plan, he is now not expected to go out on loan after all. Instead, Cardozo could be given further opportunities with the first team.
