Uli Hoeneß hails Frans Krätzig as a potential starter as he reiterates desire for young players to thrive at Bayern Munich

Bayern Munich board member Uli Hoeneß recently spoke to RTL in an interview, as captured by @iMiaSanMia, in which he reiterated an oft-stated mission of Bayern Munich that has seen mixed results.

“FC Bayern will have to make sure in the future that they don’t just buy expensive players, but also give young players a chance,” Hoeneß stated.

Being able to rely on youngsters was meant to be Bayern’s plan to counteract the inflation of transfer fees in the current market, after all. Bayern has seen some phenomenal success in that regard with the likes of Alphonso Davies, Jamal Musiala and Mathys Tel, but Ryan Gravenberch will be the first to tell you that Bayern’s hit rate in this regard is far from perfect.

Hoeneß carried on with some high praise of newly integrated youngster Frans Krätzig.

“Frans Krätzig, whom I’m certain will become a regular starter for FC Bayern at some point, would probably never have had a career at Bayern if we didn’t have these personnel problems. If you only ever buy expensive players, then the young guys won’t get a chance,” he added.

Wow, that is a lot to unpack for just two sentences.

Hoeneß is spot on about the opportunities that can be given to youngsters with such a thin squad. Of course, Krätzig was a beneficiary of personnel problems back when he was at Bayern II as well. He was struggling to become a regular starter in the team until a total lack of left-backs after January led to him filling in, becoming an indispensable starter and not looking back. Now he is taking advantage of the first team’s personnel problems to force himself into the coach’s plans.

However, if opportunities for youngsters are limited to Bayern’s poor squad planning and Hoeneß continues to heap pressure on youngsters like he has done on Krätzig here, it may prove difficult for Bayern to ever be able to consistently churn out young prodigies.