Who is Paul Wanner? Bayern Munich's latest academy star

29 Sept 2022 10:22 BST
4 min read

Paul Wanner during his Bayern Munich debut. — © ProShots

Bayern Munich have promoted Jamal Musiala and Alphonso Davies from their youth teams in recent seasons and it appears they have another player ready to make the step up in Paul Wanner.

Wanner was handed his Bayern debut in January, replacing Marc Roca for the final 15 minutes of a 2-1 defeat to Borussia Monchengladbach just two weeks past his 16th birthday.

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He is the second-youngest player in Bundesliga history after Borussia Dortmund's Youssoufa Moukoko, and has since been lighting things up for Bayern in the UEFA Youth League.

A left-footed central midfielder, the youngster has Joshua Kimmich, Leon Goretzka, Marcel Sabitzer and Ryan Gravenberch blocking his path further first-team minutes for now, but that could be able to change with Bayern languishing fifth in the league table.

Bayern have beaten Inter Milan and Barcelona in the Champions League but they are winless in four domestically. Now could be Wanner's time to shine.

What were you doing on a Friday night at 16 years old? 😅

Paul #Wanner was making his debut for @FCBayernEN, their youngest league #Bundesliga debutant in history. 📜 👏 pic.twitter.com/rj6af12mpv
— Bundesliga English (@Bundesliga_EN) January 14, 2022

What position does Wanner play in?

Wanner lines up as an attacking midfielder for Bayern under-19s, for whom he has a goal and two assists in this season's UEFA Youth League, with exactly the same numbers in each column from three games in the U19 Bundesliga.

But he is happy to line up deeper than that for the first-team, as he has done before now. His debut came as one half of a double pivot alongside Musiala, but Nagelsmann being the tinkering tactician that he is has also tried the youngster at left-back.

How good is Wanner?

The most promising player in the Bayern academy if his coaches are to be believed. Wanner's goal contributions have come in at a rate of one every 71 minutes this season, and even if he has some physical development still to do, Nagelsmann is keeping tabs.

"Paul Wanner's an outstanding talent with a lot of qualities," he said upon handing him his debut. "He's a very quick player with unbelievably good technique. He's left-footed, has very good ideas and believes in himself. He's definitely a player I've got my eye on that we need to support in the future."

What clubs are interested in Wanner?

Wanner was close to joining Wolfsburg at the end of 2021 before he stayed and earned his first-team debut, and clubs from throughout Germany have since been linked with a move to take the 16-year-old on loan.

But now after his UEFA Youth League performances, European big guns like Manchester United and Barcelona are taking a closer look, and could pounce if Wanner continued to be frustrated at his first-team opportunities.