Bavarian Loan Works: Chris Richards picks up knock; Michaël Cuisance scuffles; Taylor Booth shines; and MORE!

Bayern Munich’s loaner list grew during the winter transfer window and there are quite a few young Bavarians making their respective marks across Europe now.

Let’s take a peek at how the players are doing:

Michaël Cuisance — Olympique Marseille — Ligue One (France)

The loan deal with Marseille for Cuisance appears to have hit a severe road block. After a promising start under manager Andre Villas-Boas, Cuisance has hit a wall, Villas-Boas walked away from his role as manager, and the squad is in general turmoil.

Obviously, this is not good for Cuisance — or Bayern. More, Cuisance’s production has not been great and his performances have started to get slammed by the media.

Cuisance has no goals and one assist in 22 games with Marseille, while splitting time between the 10 and the 8.

Adrian Fein — PSV Eindhoven — Eredivisie (Netherlands)

For the Dutch side, Fein has appeared in 15 games and played 486 minutes total. Fein has one goal and three assists, but is completing 87% of his passes.

While Fein is getting more time after a very slow start, it is hard to gauge just how much interest Eindhoven will have in actually purchasing Fein even at such a low figure. It’s very possible that Fein finds his way back to Munich this summer before seeking a permanent move or another loan.

It has been rumored already that Bayern Munich manager Hansi Flick does not rate Fein all that much, so it will be fascinating to see what happens with the youngster.

Lars Lukas Mai — SV Darmstadt 98 — 2. Bundesliga (Germany)

Mai is the gold standard for Bayern Munich loan arrangements at this point.

Mai has played 23 games for Darmstadt across all competitions and has two assists, an 87% passing accuracy rate with 1.3 interceptions per game and 2.0 tackles per game. Mai is also winning 68% of his ground duels and 59% of his aerial duels.

Mai has reportedly not been as consistent as he was earlier in the season, but this loan has been a win for all parties so far. At a minimum, Mai has put together another quality film to draw interest from several clubs, including Lazio.

Chris Richards — Hoffenheim — Bundesliga (Germany)

Richards got off to a strong start in Sinsheim, but proved once again that you can take kid out of Bayern, but you can’t take the Bayern out of the kid. The Alabama-native started in his first match for Hoffenheim but picked up a knock and missed his second match. We’ll continue to watch the youngster’s progress as he integrates further into Sebastian Hoeneß’s squad.

The injury gods tapped Richards, but it is expected that is back in the lineup soon enough where he can continue to build off of his formidable first showing.

Joshua Zirkzee — Parma — Serie A (Italy)

Zirkzee has two appearances for 68 minutes of playing time with Parma so far. The feeling is that Bayern Munich is hoping that Zirkzee can perform well enough that Parma will consider exercising its reported €15 million option-to-buy on the Dutchman. That number seems like an awful lot for a bottom rung Serie A club, though.

Leon Dajaku — Union Berlin — Bundesliga (Germany)

Dajaku has made two substitute appearances totaling 35 minutes so far for a Union Berlin team that is sliding a bit after a torrid start. Dajaku’s offensive skill should be a good fit with Union Berlin, but he will clearly have to prove himself. In the five games that he has been eligible for so far, Dajaku was not included in the squad twice and an unused substitute once.

That is not necessarily a shock. The key to this loan is to see if Dajaku can break into a regular role as an offensive game-changer off-the-bench at some point.

Taylor Booth — SKN St. Pölten — Bundesliga (Austria)

Booth’s loan assignment is a tremendous opportunity for the United Stated prospect. The Bayern II midfielder spent most of the first half of the 2020/2021 season injured, so getting the opportunity to prove himself in a top flight of a relatively solid league like Austria is a solid move for the 19-year-old.

In his first match for St. Pölten, Booth went the distance, picked up an assist on the equalizing goal, and was named the Man of the Match. That’s quite the debut.

This will be a good test for Booth at St. Pölten as they will be fighting to avoid relegation or qualifying for the Europa League in Austria’s convoluted league system.

Christian Fruchtl — 1. FC Nürnberg — 2. Bundesliga (Germany)

Nothing has changed.

Fruchtl still has zero appearances. This loan assignment just has not worked out. What a waste of a loan.

Oliver Batista Meier — SC Heerenveen — Eredivisie (Netherlands)

Batista Meier has one goal and two assists in 14 games across all competitions for SC Heerenveen, but has only played 10 over the last six games. In that span, Batista Meier sat out four games completely.

Batista Meier also missed a long spell this season due to COVID-19. Right now, it is probably fair to start to wonder if Batista Meier is going to be good enough to eventually break into the Bayern Munich first-team roster.

Alex Timossi Andersson — SK Austria Klagenfurt — 2. Liga (Austria)

Recently returned from a loan with Helsingborgs IF, Bayern Munich sent the youngster back out on loan to Austrian side SK Austria Klagenfurt. Unfortunately for Timossi Andersson, his potential debut with Klagenfurt was delayed at least a week after their match this weekend was postponed due to a frozen field.

Jakob Mayer — TSV 1860 Rosenheim — Regionalliga Bayern (Germany)

Mayer, a 19-year-old goalkeeper, has made two appearances for 1860 Rosenheim and conceded nine goals. Mayer has not played since October 24th. The team has not played, however, since October 31st as Regionalliga play in most areas was suspended.

Jonas Kehl — SSV Ulm 1846 Fußball — Regionalliga Südwest (Germany)

Kehl, an outside-back, was playing regularly for a spell as he racked up 16 appearances across all competitions. Kehl has played 1237 minutes of field time, tallied six assists, and picked up three yellow cards.

Interestingly, Kehl has been working as both a right-back and left-back of late. Over the last seven games, however, Kehl was left on the bench three times and not included in the squad once. The youngster might have hit a bit of a wall.

Marvin Cuni — SG Sonnenhof Großaspach — Regionalliga Südwest (Germany)

Cuni, a 19-year-old right-wing, is the most productive of the Bayern Munich loanees. With 17 goals and two assists in 23 appearances (covering 1995 minutes), Cuni has shown really well in Regionalliga Südwest and Württembergpokal and is absolutely one of Bayern Munich’s most successful loanees over the course of this season.

Jahn Herrmann — Hannover 96 II — Regionalliga Nord (Germany)

A 19-year-old attacking midfielder, Herrmann has one goal and two assists in nine appearances in Regionalliga Nord.

The team has not played, however, since October 16th as Regionalliga play in most areas was suspended.

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Returned loanees

Sarpreet Singh — 1. FC Nürnberg — 2. Bundesliga (Germany)

After 11 appearances in the 2.Bundesliga with FC Nürnberg, Singh saw his loan canceled, and he returned to Bayern II at the end of the transfer window. Singh came off the bench in his first match back with Bayern II, but he started the next two. This will be the last update in Loan Works this season for him.