On Tuesday, Bayern Munich signed four more youth players in preparation for the 2014/2015 season. While the signings of goalkeeper Ivan Lucic and confirmation of striker Lukas Görtler were not surprising given the reported interest Bayern had shown in them in the weeks leading up to the announcement, the additional signings of defender Herbert Paul from SpVgg Greuther Furth II and midfielder Sebasitn Boesel from SpVgg Bayern Hof were surprising. The four in concert are a big influx of talent into the Bayern Muncih reserve side, but also are replacements for players leaving or aging out of the side.
Herbert Paul joins Bayern Munich on a 2 year contract and according to the club is a capable player at all defensive positions. The 20-year-old German has appeared in 23 matches for the Greuther Furth reserve squad this season, with appearances mainly at leftback and rightback. With the Bayern Munich losing their primary (and really, only) rightback Benno Schmitz to Red Bull Salzburg this summer, Paul seems a logical cog to fit directly into the Bayern Munich reserve lineup.
Sebastian Bösel also will join Bayern Munich on a 2-year contract and is described as a traditional number six. While the 19-year-old has plied his trade with the struggling SpVgg Bayern Hof, he's notched 4 goals and an assist in 27 appearances this season. Given that Bayern Munich's backup defensive midfielder Niklas Horn will age out of the Bayern Munich reserve squad after this season while primary defensive midfielder Rico Streider turns 22 and has zero opportunity of breaking into the first team, most of that depth will be lost come the beginning of training camp. Boesel, represents not only a piece that can backup Etienne Sholz, but more likely a piece that will start ahead of him given that Scholz has only appeared six times and logged just over 200 minutes this season.
Is it time to start the Bayern Munich reserves are weakening the Regionalliga Bayern narrative yet?