Julian Nagelsmann’s investment in youth at Bayern Munich is paying dividends

One of the breakout stories of this season for Bayern Munich has been the rapid ascent of Paul Wanner from youth team prospect to future star.

Wanner has impressed coaches and teammates alike with his physical ability and skills, but even such a lauded youngster might have trouble seeing a pathway to the first team on the campus at Säbener Straße.

Now, though, Wanner and some other players are seeing the light and might be able to mentally process a break through to the first team.

“He has to stay clear in his head, then the door is open to him,” said coach Julian Nagelsmann said of Wanner (as captured by Abendzeitung). “(Wanner is) an incredible talent, left foot, very fast, very sure of the ball, courageous.”

Campus sporting director Holger Seitz has enjoyed seeing Wanner’s rapid rise.

“Paul is just a good boy, down to earth and from a very good family. He has now taken the first small step, many more will have to follow,” said Seitz. “We are all very happy on campus when our talents train with the professionals or, as in this extraordinary case with the many positive corona cases in the squad, are allowed to help out at short notice. It’s a confirmation of our youth work at FC Bayern when our players come into play and then make a positive impression. And of course that provides additional motivation for all our talents who also want to move up - but also for every single coach and every single employee. It shows everyone what’s possible.”

Seitz, though, went further into why Wanner — and potentially some other youngsters — could begin the influx of campus player to the senior team and credited Nagelsmann by saying he works “very well” with the campus staff.

“We are in close contact with the professional coaching team, especially with Xaver Zembrod, with whom I speak almost every day. This ensures that Julian is always up to date with the latest development of our campus talents,” Seitz said. “The entire professional trainer team used to work in the youth field themselves and can therefore feel very well about the talent development. Everyone feels that, especially our talents.”