Harry Kane has broken almost every record this season, but a Bayern Munich teammate threatened to finish him off.
17-year-old Lennart Karl has been European football’s prodigy this season after rising to superstardom through the club’s ranks.
6
Karl, who played U19 football last season, has scored six goals and provided two assists in just six Bundesliga starts this year.
Last month he became the youngest player in Champions League history to score in his first two starts in the competition.
Karl is also one of the few elite stars to win the Bundesliga Goal of the Month with his first ever professional league goal.
Lennart Karl’s new transfer value
Bayern’s new No.42 is already worth €60m (£52m) despite not turning 18 until February, having been worth just £1.3m in July.
Ironically, if Kane had fulfilled his wish for Bayern to strengthen their squad, his breakthrough might never have happened this year.
Vincent Kompany oversaw the summer departures of Thomas Müller, Leroy Sané, Kingsley Coman, Mathys Tel and Paul Wanner, with the arrival of Luís Diaz proving to be Bayern’s only offensive signing.
Jamal Musiala then suffered a leg injury at the Club World Cup and Nicolas Jackson was drafted by Chelsea on deadline day.
Kane’s public calls for more signings were largely ignored by Bayern’s management, who instead took a chance on Karl to secure promotion.
European football expert Andy Brassell, who spoke to the England captain in this interview, told The Pitch Prospect.com: “The advantage for Lennart Karl was actually two-fold.”
6
Bayern Munich’s youngest Champions League goalscorers of all time
1) Lennart Karl: 17 years, 8 months
2) Jamal Musiala: 17 years, 11 months, 28 days
3) Sammy Kuffour: 18 years, 1 month, 28 days
4) Roque Santa Cruz: 18 years, 2 months, 30 days
5) Mathys Tel: 18 years, 4 months, 24 days
6) Kingsley Coman: 19 years, 5 months, 11 days
7) Thomas Müller: 19 years, 5 months, 25 days
8) David Alaba: 20 years, 5 months, 11 days
9) Bastian Schweinsteiger: 20 years, 8 months, 5 days
10) Markus Feulner: 20 years, 9 months, 1 day
“I think the fact that Bayern have had a number of injuries and secondly that they have quite a small squad this season, which Harry Kane pointed out at the start of the season.”
“He said it was one of the smallest squads he had ever played in as a professional. Considering he played for Tottenham Hotspur, and I mean no insult at all to Tottenham Hotspur, a previously smaller club, it’s quite remarkable for him to say that.”
“Obviously he tried to achieve it to some extent [Bayern’s director of sport] Max Eberl and the board say goodbye to further new signings.
“He told me on The Pitch Prospect at the Super Cup at the start of the season that it was a pretty tight squad. And then you look at the injury to Jamal Musiala, which really paved the way for Lennart Karl to move up.”
“If you look back six months, no one can imagine him being in this position. Maybe he does it in his dreams, but no one else does.”
“But the big difference was that Paul Wanner came back from a loan spell and then decided he really wanted to go somewhere else so he could play there regularly. The club was a little shocked about that.”
6
6
“The last Bayern player I felt that way about was Jamal Musiala.”
“Wanner, the former Bayern academy prodigy, moved to PSV, so there was some space in pre-season,” Brassell added.
“This gave Lennart Karl the chance to at least be in the squad at the age of 17.”
“He played really well in pre-season. He applied himself very, very well. And he’s someone who, as soon as he gets the ball, takes responsibility.”
“The last Bayern player I felt that way about all the time was Jamal Musiala, at a young age, as a teenager.
“Someone who didn’t think, ‘Okay, I’ll just stay in the corner. I’m just a kid. I’ll be seen and not heard. I’ll behave and try not to make mistakes.’ He didn’t accept this attitude.
“But at the same time he handles the ball sensibly, but he also handles it bravely… He was just outstanding.”
“I don’t put him on the same level as Musiala yet, but the fact that he is taking advantage of the big moments at 17 is pretty extraordinary.”
6
Wildcard option for the World Cup
The German U21 international has yet to be called up to the senior national team, but has already been named to Julian Nagelsmann’s squad for the 2026 World Cup.
A rare critic remains former Bayern player Mario Basler, who bizarrely claimed that Karl was “simply not good enough” for his old club.
Brassell continued: “If you look at Musiala’s fitness and the problems Florian Wirtz has had so far, I don’t see why Germany shouldn’t at least have him in the squad for the World Cup.”
“Of course Mario Basler could see it this way: Let’s not exaggerate, let’s take care of him.”
6
“Maybe he sees it that way. But to say he’s not an outstanding talent is just nonsense, isn’t it?”
“He’s great. He’s really great.”
“Mario Basler will probably have this moment of revelation, an epiphany, in a few weeks when he thinks that Karl is actually fantastic.”