Bayern Munich banter: From campus jewel to just not good enough?

Once thought to be the jewel of Bayern Munich’s campus, it seems that Torben Rhein’s future at Sabener Strasse is in major jeopardy.

According to a report from SPOX and GOAL journalist Kerry Hau, Bayern Munich manager Julian Nagelsmann might have seen enough of Rhein to know that he has seen too much:

According to information from SPOX and GOAL, the 18-year-old has no prospects in the professional squad.

Julian Nagelsmann took a closer look at him during pre-season, but despite some appealing test match performances, came to the conclusion relatively quickly that Rhine, who is based in central midfield, is certainly technically gifted, but that the overall package is not nearly interesting enough for his team.

Rhein’s lack of an impact on Nagelsmann is also — allegedly — one of the reasons that the new boss pushed so hard to bring in Marcel Sabitzer.

Per SPOX and GOAL, Rhein has an option in his current del that would allow the club to extend it to 2023, but it does not appear to be something Bayern Munich will pursue. In addition to being unhappy with Rhein’s development, his salary is high for a youth player.

Rhein, who is now relegated to almost exclusively being a bench player with Bayern Munich II, was one of the campus players who got a chance to put in some time in front of Nagelsmann last summer and the youngster turned in a mixed bag of performances.

Regardless, this is another young midfielder whose career has seemingly stalled out at Bayern Munich. The reason why some of the club’s more heralded midfield prospects have failed to breakthrough remains to be seen. Adrian Fein, Niklas Dorsch, and Angelo Stiller are among the youngsters who have needed to move on from the club (Fein via loan, Dorsch and Stiller via transfers) to get a true idea on where they stand as footballers.

Is Rhein more like Fein or Dorsch? We might start to find out soon enough.