Pavlović, Tel and five more Bayern youngsters set to break into the first team
Aleksandar Pavlović and Mathys Tel have followed Alphonso Davies and Jamal Musiala in making the jump from academy football to the first team at Bayern Munich, and there are more to come - like Lovro Zvonarek, who scored on his first start and has now penned professional terms...
Davies and Musiala have become first-team regulars at the Allianz Arena in recent seasons, and this year teenaged pair Pavlović and Tel have started to rack up significant minutes alongside them.
And there are more where they came from. bundesliga.com looks at seven of the most promising Bayern youngsters…
Aleksandar Pavlović
Age: 20 (born 3 May 2004)
Position: Defensive midfielder
Country: Germany (U20)/Serbia
Watch: Pavlović, from ballboy to Bayern baller
A Munich native of Serbian descent, footage of Pavlović serving as a Bayern ball boy re-emerged following his Bundesliga debut in November 2023. From throwing the ball to Joshua Kimmich and Thomas Müller from the sidelines, a few short years later he is now trying to find them as quickly as possible with his feet, having established himself in Bayern's midfield.
Kimmich remains a pre-eminent player in his position, and Pavlović also has Leon Goretzka, Konrad Laimer and Raphaël Guerreiro for competition, but that hasn't stopped him from racking up 18 Bundesliga appearances this season, including starts against Bayer Leverkusen and RB Leipzig.
"I was a ball boy here for several years, playing endless games, then scoring here in the stadium is even nicer," he said after hitting the first in the 3-1 win at home to Borussia Mönchengladbach on Matchday 20 - his second top-flight strike. "I grew up here, FC Bayern means everything to me."
Mathys Tel
Age: 19 (born 27 April 2005)
Position: Forward
Country: France (U21)
Watch: Every Mathys Tel Bundesliga goal so far
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Another who has made his presence felt this season is Tel, who boasts three goals and three assists, all of them from the bench. With positional paragon Harry Kane occupying the No.9 spot, Tel has often had to settle for a cameo from the left flank, but has done so to devastating effect.
A product of the Rennes youth academy - and a former youth teammate of recent Bayern acquisition Sacha Boey - Tel has nonetheless been given his chance in Bavaria since his arrival in 2022, making 68 senior appearances there compared to 10 in Brittany, despite his tender 19 years.
"He's very, very efficient. It's unbelievable," said Thomas Tuchel after Tel set up Kane for what proved to be the winner against Galatasaray in the UEFA Champions League in November. "We should always remember that he's 18 because he plays like a 22 or 24-year-old player." The future looks very bright indeed.
Frans Krätzig
Age: 21 (born 14 January 2003)
Position: Left-back/midfielder
Country: Germany (U20)
A crown jewel of the Bayern academy, Krätzig exploded into the popular consciousness in August 2023 when he scored a spectacular long-range goal to beat Liverpool 4-3 in August, thus winning the pre-season Singapore Trophy.
Krätzig's technique in hitting that exquisite volley hints to his history as a box-to-box midfielder, one sniffing out chances on the edge of the opposition area, but the left-footer has now made a similar journey to Davies, more commonly found at left-back than in midfield.
With the Canadian in his way for now at the Allianz, Krätzig decided to spend the second half of the 2023/24 season on loan with Austria Vienna in February, where he has contributed a goal and three assists from 13 games at left wing-back and central midfield.
Lovro Zvonarek
Age: 19 (born 8 May 2005)
Position: Central midfielder
Country: Croatia (U21)
Zvonarek set tongues wagging in his native Croatia when he became the youngest scorer in their top-flight history, scoring for first club Slaven Belupo just two weeks past his 16th birthday - thus overtaking former Barcelona and Hamburg prodigy Alen Halilović.
Watch: Lovro Zvonarek scores on his Bundesliga debut as Bayern beat Wolfsburg
He joined the Bayern academy two years later, where his eye for goal has become apparent with 12 strikes alongside his eight assists across the last two seasons with the reserves and U19s.
That kind of form was not going to keep the starlet away from the first-team squad for long. Having been an unused substitute several times earlier in the campaign, Zvonarek made his debut from the bench in January's 3-2 win at Augsburg.
His first start came in the final home match of the campaign, against Wolfsburg, and could not have possibly gone any better with a crisp drive from the edge of the box in just the fourth minute of play sending Bayern on their way to a 2-0 win. Days later, he signed his first professional contract with the club, inking a deal until 30 June 2027.
Noël Aséko
Age: 18 (born 22 November 2005)
Position: Defensive midfielder
Country: Germany (U18)/Equatorial Guinea
Berlin-born Aséko signed pro terms on the same day - but until 30 June 2026 - as Zvonarek, showing how just how highly-rated the teenager also is at the club.
He joined Bayern's academy from Hertha's in 2022, and has wasted little time in endearing himself to the club's supporters.
A defensive midfielder by trade, Aséko has a happy habit of scoring on his debuts. He found the target in a 4-1 win over Eintracht Trier in his first outing with Bayern's U19s last season, and marked his first appearance with the seniors with a goal in a 1-1 draw with Swiss champions Basel in January.
Still eligible to represent Equatorial Guinea through his parentage, he is the first player with that descent to play for Bayern. A Germany international future looks to be his, though, with 16 youth international caps already.
Jonathan Asp-Jensen
Age: 18 (born 18 January 2006)
Position: Attacking midfielder
Country: Denmark (U18)
A graduate of the famed Midtjylland academy, Asp-Jensen is seeking to follow in the strong tradition of Danish creative attacking talents that arguably dates back to the time Brian Laudrup played for Bayern.
After registering three goals and five assists in 13 appearances for Bayern's U17 side after joining in 2022, Asp-Jensen seamlessly took his attacking repertoire to the club's U19 outfit with a goal and seven assists in 12 appearances in the 2023/24 season.
That he made such a meteoric ascent to both the Bayern second-team and first-team squads in the same campaign tells you just how highly rated he is at the Bavarian giants for both his technical ability and ambitious mentality. He saw the first of what will surely be many minutes of Bundesliga action as a late substitute in the win over Wolfsburg on the penutlimate 2023/24 Matchday.
Matteo Perez Vinlöf
Age: 18 (born 18 December 2005)
Position: Left-back
Country: Sweden (U18)
Perez Vinlöf is another Scandinavian ready to make the big time after being schooled at the Bayern Campus, the club's state-of-the-art youth centre.
He joined Bayern as a 16-year-old in January 2022, and after just a single game with Bayern U17 was immediately promoted to the U19 side. After his first full season at that level, Perez Vinlöf began to appear for the Bayern second team at the start of the 2023/24 season.
His first goal for Bayern II came against Ansbach in April 2024 and a few weeks later he was thrust into the Bundesliga spotlight as a substitute for the final 15 minutes of Bayern's win over Wolfsburg.
Having represented Sweden at youth level, Perez Vinlöf remains eligible to play for Peru through his father. He clearly appreciates both backgrounds, telling Bayern's club website that his Scandinavian nature keeps him quiet off the pitch but his Latin American blood shows when making challenges on it.
Adam Aznou
Age: 17 (born 2 June 2006)
Position: Left-back / left-wing
Country: Morocco / Spain (14 youth appearances)
Aznou was the third teenager, alongside Zvonarek and Aséko, to sign a first professional contract at Bayern on 15 May 2024 as he agreed a deal until 30 June 2027.
The 17-year-old, who can operate from either left-back or the left-wing, joined Bayern in the summer of 2022 from Barcelona-based Club de Futbol Damm.
Born in the Catalan capital, Aznou is both Spanish and Moroccan citizenship, and has represented both in youth internationals.
He made five Bundesliga matchday squads across the 2023/24 campaign, having impressed in 11 appearances for the reserve team in fourth-tier.
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