Bayern Munich’s days as pipeline for German national team ending?

Under the watchful eyes of Uli Hoeneß and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Bayern Munich had become the club-level training ground for the German national team.

Able to train together, work together, and build relationships on a year-long basis, Bayern Munich became the place to be for German national team candidates. Under Oliver Kahn, Herbert Hainer, and Hasan “Brazzo” Salihamidzic, however, Bayern Munich has started to shift its attention elsewhere.

According to Sport Bild, Bayern Munich is still being looked at as the destination club for German national team pool candidates, but the German outlet wonders how much longer that will be the case:

Flick relies on his Bayern axis and mechanisms with which he made the treble perfect in 2020. Already at the 2014 World Cup title in Brazil, the German team benefited from a strong Munich framework.

Flick can again draw heavily from the Bayern squad at the World Cup. The question is: for how much longer? Because: Under sports director Salihamidzic and CEO Kahn, Bayern no longer relied on Uli Hoeneß’s former vision of “FC Bayern Germany.”

► They no longer prefer players like Nico Schlotterbeck or Florian Neuhaus to talents from France or Holland. Starting next season, after Niklas Süle’s departure to BVB, there will no longer be any DFB players in Bayern’s defence.

► With players of international quality like Kai Havertz, Bayern left via transfers early. Antonio Rüdiger cannot be afforded or no longer wants to be afforded in Munich.

► The Bayern bosses Thomas Müller and Manuel Neuer leave open whether they will still play the home EM 2024 after the World Cup.

Flick already has to get candidates like Anton Stach from Mainz or Christian Günter from Freiburg into the squad. Without FC Bayern as a national player supplier, the win-win model of an era is at risk.

Certainly, Bayern Munich will always do what is best for itself without regard to whether or not the players it wants are German. The next few years, however, could show definitively which side needed the other more. There were absolutely positive effects for Bayern Munich being the home base for German national team players, but how the shift in scouting philosophy affects both club and country will be monitored closely.