Last season, Bayern Munich's centre-back pairing was straightforward: Dayot Upamecano and Jonathan Tah started, with Min-jae Kim and Hiroki Ito available to coach Vincent Kompany if either was out. That looked like a clear pecking order. "People like making these rankings," Kompany said back in the summer, though he made clear he wasn't fond of them.
The numbers backed up that hierarchy: Tah made 49 competitive appearances in the 2025/26 season and Upamecano made 42, while Kim played just 91 minutes in the Bundesliga up to the end of October. Ito's role was even smaller. Competition in Munich has since opened up, thanks to Kim. After a strong pre-season, he has become a genuine alternative and taken playing time from Tah in important matches.
In the Bundesliga opener against VfB Stuttgart (5-1), last weekend's top-of-the-table clash with RB Leipzig (6-1) and Wednesday's eagerly anticipated Champions League match against Arsenal (2-2), the South Korean started alongside Dayot Upamecano in central defence. Kompany saw that coming before Kim did.
"I had never experienced a long period in which I didn't play, so it was a little difficult at first," the defender said in April, looking back on his 2025/26 season of limited playing time with the Korean outlet Footballist . "I always thought playing constantly was the solution, but now I'm happy with my situation as a challenger," he added. No fighting talk or grand statements.
Why could Bayern Munich have let Min-jae Kim leave?
Those comments fuelled talk of a summer departure from Bayern Munich. The thinking was that too much time on the bench could damage the market value of a player Bayern had paid €50 million for in 2023. If a club came in for Kim, Bayern could instead bring in someone younger than the 29-year-old South Korean to learn from Upamecano and Tah.
Among the names linked with Bayern was Yann Aurel Bisseck, who could also fill in on the right in an emergency. Luka Vuskovic's name came up repeatedly at Säbener Straße and even prompted a response from board member for sport Max Eberl ("We're not made of money!").
IMAGOKim stayed put, and those rumours now sound rather absurd. He worked hard during pre-season and impressed Bayern's decision-makers. "Min-jae really established himself last season and is continuing that now," Eberl said back in August. "Now we have three centre-backs, all three world-class," he added. Kompany also praised his former back-up: "I want to compliment Min-jae: whatever the situation, he delivers on the pitch and doesn't talk off it. He gives everything in training, he gives everything on the pitch," the Belgian said.
What is the current situation in Bayern's central defence?
Kompany has rewarded that approach with far more playing time for Kim than last season. Only Upamecano is now truly indispensable to him, with Tah and Kim sharing the second centre-back spot. That makes the renewed transfer rumours about the Korean surprising: first, reports said English champions Arsenal were interested in him, then Milan entered the picture.
With Kompany regularly selecting Kim, who is under contract in Munich until 2028, it is hard to imagine Bayern Munich agreeing to a proposed deal. Kim is unlikely to want to leave, either. He said he was happy even as a challenger behind Upamecano and Tah. Now he is no longer a challenger.