Bayern Munich II’s Fiete Arp happy to be able focus on development in 3. Liga

Before the season, it was curious that Bayern Munich prospect Fiete Arp openly wanted to spend the season in 3.Liga with Bayern Munich II.

Arp, however, laid out his rationals for volunteering to “play down” this season during an appearance on Sport1’s “Split It” podcast, which was captured by Abendzeitung.

For the 20-year-old, a season focused on working on his individual game was a step that needed to be taken to get where he eventually wants to be...the Allianz Arena.

“That’s why it’s pretty obvious that this path with the U-23s,” Arp said. “It is by far the best for me, because A: I can get even more used to club and B: I can stay focused. I still run into the players every now and then I want to work with one day.”

Photo by Roland Krivec/DeFodi Images via Getty Images

Sport Bild also captured some of the podcast and captured this from Arp:

The 20-year-old is bound to the Bavarians until 2024. A club where “every player, every official” is simply “obsessed” with “improving and also simply becoming the best in what they do. This also “took him by surprise” at the beginning.

If it does not work out with Bayern Munich would Arp consider a return to Hamburger SV?

“The bond and love for the city will not go away, no matter how comfortable I feel in Munich now,” Arp said.” It’s pretty clear to me that I’ll be in Hamburg sooner or later. In any case, I haven’t forgotten the club. However, that is still quite a long way off and not the right time to think about it.”

Arp is also close with captain-to-be Joshua Kimmich and knows that Hansi Flick will give him the opportunity to return to the top-team if he can continue to improve.

“He knows that if he performs well there, the step back into the professional squad is at least not difficult,” Flick said earlier in the season. “He is a very fine boy, has a very professional attitude. That is why it is to be hoped that he will develop in the U-23 team and that’s what we expect of him. It’s just up to him.”

Arp’s season so far has looked better on the pitch than on the scoresheet. In 12 games, Arp has two goals and two assist, but the squad’s offense — and overall performance to be frank — has been up-and-down due to the integration of Holger Seitz as head coach, numerous injuries, and a revolving cast of characters that has has involved players from the senior team and U-19s at times.

Simply put, it has been hard for Bayern Munich II to really gain any consistency or tractions as the player are constantly adapting to new teammates and strategies from game-to-game.

In another factor that won’t help the team gel, Bayern Munich II’s game against FSV Zwickau this weekend was postponed due to COVID-19 concerns.

Regardless, Arp has show some area of growth with his positioning, runs-off-the-ball, and ability to track back defensively. Arp has also played roles centrally and out-wide, which should benefit him in the long run.

Such is the funny life of a striker, though; progress almost never matters as much as the end results on the scoresheet.

Anyway, with Joshua Zirkzee and Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting both struggling with Bayern Munich, Arp’s development might need to be expedited in hopes of trying to find a suitable back-up for Robert Lewandowski should either of the two current reserves not regain their form.

One has to wonder how things might have turned down a different path if Arp’s 2019/2020 season, which was riddled with illnesses and injuries, would have just went off smoothly.