Lucas Hernandez says he’s committed to staying at Bayern Munich and proving his worth

Lucas Hernandez has enjoyed a fine start to the 2020/21 campaign for Bayern Munich. After a difficult debut season plagued with injury in Munich after joining from Atletico Madrid, Hernandez is finally starting to prove he’s worth the 80-million Euros Bayern paid for him. He’s been a consistent performer for Hansi Flick at the left-back spot having been preferred to Alphonso Davies even before the Canadian international sustained his ankle injury against Eintracht Frankfurt.

In a recent interview with France Football (via Goal), Hernandez said he’s ready to really make a name for himself at Bayern. “I don’t just want to stay here, I want to make a name for myself here and be part of the team in the long term. I know the club went to great lengths financially to sign me. Even in the difficult situation last season, I always saw myself at Bayern” the French international proclaimed.

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Even with his difficult start to life at Bayern last season, struggling with injuries, and finding consistent minutes hard to come by, he said that he never thought about leaving the club, “not for a second.” He also said he “always felt the club’s trust - from the management, the coach and my team-mates.”

So far this season, Hernandez has made 5 appearances in the Bundesliga, 3 in the Champions League, and also started and played a full 90+ minutes in both the DFL and UEFA Supercups. Even from the start of the season, Flick had shown a preference to starting Hernandez over Davies, despite the sensational season Davies had en route to the treble. Hernandez was on the bench and was an unused sub for Bayern’s only Bundesliga loss of the season to Hoffenheim on match week 2 and he was also rested for the 2-1 win over FC Köln, mainly to keep him fresh for the Champions League match against RB Salzburg in Austria, a match in which he opened his scoring account for Bayern.

When Davies is fully fit and healthy, Hernandez said, the competition for a starting spot is something that really helps keep him motivated. “I need the competition to move forward. With his speed, his technique and his positional play, he was the best left-back in the world,” Hernandez said of his fellow left back. As he recovers from his ankle injury, the onus will be on Davies to try and win his spot back, but Flick will certainly welcome back the added squad depth in a season that calls for rotations due to the congested and truncated fixtures across all competitions.

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