I also like Zirkzee. I think he's very underrated. He'd be able to play when Lewandowski needs a rest. I think he can at least be as good as Choupo-Moting. But he's only a short-term option at Bayern. For the benefit of his career, he should probably ask for a permanent move in the summer.
I think some of these other guys are going to be able to help Bayern. They will probably play some games for them over the course of a few years, but I think the caliber needed for an academy player on pretty low wages with no transfer fee attached to break into a very veteran squad that is also one of the best teams in the world probably means that players such as Sieb, Tilmann, Rhein, Booth are all going to eventually be moved onto other clubs at a good level where they'll have good careers. Maybe they are sent back to Bayern years later, but these guys have to establish themselves first. Richards is going through that right now. I suspect once they find some better stability at RB that Stanisic will be moved on. Stiller made a good decision to avoid the year or two waiting period, and move on his own.
I tend to think at a club like Bayern once a player from the same age group has broken through to the first team and you haven't, thats probably a good indication you won't. I would suggest that all their players 2003 or older aren't going to be able to break through. Musiala was already pulled from the academy and given the platform to break through. Others weren't, and they shouldn't expect to.
Yeah, it's tough to say what'll happen with this younger generation. It's been a long time since Bayern had this much talent throughout their academy, which could mean we see them integrating more "homegrown" players than they have in recent years. But they are also buying younger than they used to, so they are filling holes with players who can be there for longer and have more growth potential, which could mean they integrate less of their academy kids.
I'm not high on Stanisic & think he's just playing because Bayern didn't have the money to get someone like Baku or Mazraoui this past summer & he's more defensively sound than the other options they had on the farm. So I doubt he's a long-termer for them...I actually think Booth has a better chance of sticking around as a RB option in the long run, as he's taken to that position well for Bayern II; although I will agree that, like many of those kids, he's likely to need to breakthrough elsewhere before getting brought back if he does eventually reach Bayern-level.
Certainly going to be fascinating to see how many of: Bright Arrey-Mbi, Jamie Lawrence, Mamin Sanyang...explosive 2003-born winger that they are in the process of converting into a wingback for their u19s right now...Taylor Booth, Torben Rhein, Eyup Aydin...2004-born deep midfielder who is considered to be another jewel of their academy...Marcel Wenig...2004er who gets a lot of LeGo comps, though I think he's a step or two down from Leon*...Christopher Scott, Malik Tillman, Paul Wanner, Arijon Ibrahimovich, Yusuf Kabadayi, Lucas Copado, Armindo Sieb, Gabriel Vidovic, Nemanja Motika, Grant-Leon Mamedova, etc.;
a) ever reach Bayern-caliber, and b) how many of them need to leave to breakthrough, like Richards/Stiller did & Wenig sounds like he is going to do soon, versus how many can break right in like Musiala & Nianzou.
*I got to watch a 17yo Goretzka in person at the Alte Försterei, so I may be being overly harsh on Wenig & mistaking him not being as advanced as Leon was at the same age, with him not having the same potential/realistic-ceiling.
But I sometimes feel like people are reaching with him just because all of the most talented young german creative midfielders outside of Wenig & Schalke's 2003-born Louis Köster are much smaller...Stiller being the giant of the group at 1.83m, Rhein / Raebiger / Bischof / Geiger (if the injuries are behind him) all being 1.76m or under...unless Tillman ends up moving back to the midfield like Leon did after breaking through for Bochum as a winger/AM.
So I do have some concerns that both Wenig & Köster will prove to be more Osterhage than Goretzka.
