Lennart Karl says his Bayern München move nearly did not happen because his parents were not fully convinced, especially his mother. He says he had other offers, wanted Bayern from the first campus visit and pushed the move through himself. The winger moved from Lennart Karl's youth team at Viktoria Aschaffenburg to Bayern's youth side in the summer of 2022, then signed in Munich until 2029 in February.

The move and the family doubts

Karl's own account is straightforward enough. Speaking to SPORT1, in comments translated from German, he said: "My parents were not so convinced by it, especially my mother not."

He added that once he saw the campus for the first time, his mind was made up. "I simply said from the beginning, when Bayern came and I looked at the campus for the first time: 'I want to go there. I'm doing it. I'm going through with it.'"

The move became a family discussion, not a breakdown. Karl said, "I have always been a Bayern fan, that's why I said I just want to do this. And then they said: 'Then let's take another look at it. If you trust yourself to do it, you go there and do it.' And that's how it all started."

Homesickness did not stop the rise

Karl's adjustment was not instant, but it did not last long. He said he had a bit of homesickness in his first two weeks after the move, before settling in with the boys in the boarding school and getting through the routine quickly.

That early spell sits alongside a rapid rise to the senior group. Karl has already made 47 appearances, scored 10 goals and provided 9 assists. This season he has played 4 Bundesliga matches, scored once in the league, appeared twice in the Champions League and provided 1 assist there, which is a strong return for a young player still early in his Bayern career.

The story is not that Bayern had to win a tug of war against his family. It is that Karl wanted the move badly enough to keep pushing for it, then settled fast enough to turn an uncertain transfer into a genuine first-team pathway.

Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →