After the 2-1 win at Borussia Dortmund in the Franz Beckenbauer Supercup, Brown, who has taken the unusual number 11 for a left-back in Munich, was asked about Bayern's famous previous holders of the shirt. The 23-year-old had the answers straight away.
"Coman and Douglas Costa wore the number, and I think Shaqiri did too," Brown immediately reeled off three legendary former Bayern No 11s without hesitation. "It is nice that I am now allowed to wear the 11. That makes me very proud."
Kingsley Coman, now at Al-Nassr, wore Bayern's No 11 from 2021 to 2025. Brown has now taken it directly from Nicolas Jackson, who played on loan from Chelsea at the German record champions last season. Douglas Costa lit up Bayern in the No 11 shirt from 2015 to 2017, then wore the number again during his not very successful return in 2020/21. Xherdan Shaqiri, meanwhile, was Bayern's No 11 from 2012 to 2015.
Nathaniel Brown surprisingly played as a No 10 for Bayern in the Supercup
Then the reporter mentioned another legendary No 11 in Stefan Effenberg, and Brown replied with a laugh: "That is true as well." It was hardly surprising that he did not name the 2001 Champions League winner and current TV pundit himself, given Brown had not even been born when Effenberg left Bayern in 2002.
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Elsewhere, Brown, who was signed from Eintracht Frankfurt for a fee of 50 million euros, also spoke about the unfamiliar role he filled in the Supercup in Dortmund on Saturday evening. Coach Vincent Kompany used the Germany international as a No 10 in attacking midfield.
"I do not know whether that was the plan. Especially in the first games I did think I would be used at left-back," Brown himself was also surprised by Kompany's move, but at the same time stressed: "It does not matter to me, it was great fun."
Nathaniel Brown on his Supercup display: "Not so good at the start"
Primarily, Bayern see the former Frankfurt player as a left-back, but his versatility had already made him an extra option for the double pivot. Kompany clearly also sees Brown as a No 10 at times. "For us, sometimes the full-backs' spaces are similar to those of a No 10. He is unbelievably good between the spaces. Whether he plays as a full-back now or as a No 10 - today that helped us because Serge Gnabry, Lennart Karl and Jamal Musiala were missing," the Bayern coach explained after the Supercup on Sky.
Even after winning the title and scoring the eye-catching opener after just under half an hour, Brown was meanwhile not completely satisfied with his performance: "At the start it was not so good from me, in the first few minutes I did not really get into it. But the goal then gave me confidence," said the new Munich player.
Next up, Brown is expected to play an important role again on Friday, whether back at left-back or in central midfield once more. Bayern then host VfB Stuttgart in their opener to the new Bundesliga season.