© FC Bayern
It's become a bit of a tradition at the FC Bayern Campus this season: as soon as a young player from the club Academy makes his competitive professional debut for FC Bayern, staff from the youth department are invited to a group weißwurst (white sausage) breakfast – as a thank you and a token of appreciation for everyone who has nurtured the young player's development. In recent weeks, the Campus has barely been able to keep up with the demand for weißwurst deliveries…
Debuts in record-breaking time
“Here we are again – sooner than expected,” said youth development boss Jochen Sauer as he welcomed the staff to the Campus canteen on Thursday morning. “We’d actually planned to get together to celebrate Maycon Cardozo’s professional debut. In the meantime, however, we’ve already witnessed three more debuts from Deniz Ofli, Filip Pavić and, most recently, Erblin Osmani.” That makes a total of nine since Lennart Karl’s first appearance, at the Club World Cup last summer. These were followed by Wisdom Mike (26 September against Bremen) and David Santos Daiber and Cassiano Kiala (both on 21 December against Heidenheim) before the winter break. The first debutant of the new year was Felipe Chávez (11 January against Wolfsburg), before Ofli, Pavić (both on 18 March in the Champions League against Atalanta) and, most recently, the 16-year-old Osmani (21 March against Union Berlin) made their first appearances at the Allianz Arena – more than ever before in a single season at FC Bayern.
“We've already achieved the highest number of debuts per season by players from our own youth setup and clocked up the most minutes played with the youngest average age of the players involved,” said director of youth development Sauer. No other club in Europe’s top leagues has put its trust in so many talents aged 18 and under in the 2025/26 season: “Once again, a big thank you to everyone for making every single debut possible.”
“We want lasting success”
It's a tradition for FC Bayern to thank all the staff who lay the groundwork for the players’ debuts with a weißwurst breakfast. | © FC Bayern
Resting on your laurels, however, is not an option. As first-team head coach Vincent Kompany had previously pointed out (“These lads have achieved something, but they still have everything to prove”), Sauer also stressed that debuts like these are only a small first step on the path to becoming a professional footballer for each individual. “The lads may well expect they’ll all get some game time with the first team at some point. That’s why I’m asking you all to help bring them back down to earth when necessary and encourage them to keep giving their all every day and in every training session. We want lasting success with one or two players who will then go on to make their 50th, 100th and more appearances for our first team.” Take a look at Aleksandar Pavlović, Josip Stanišić and Jamal Musiala, for example.
Santos Daiber has had plenty to celebrate recently, and not just due to making his debut in Kompany’s team. The 19-year-old defensive midfielder recently signed his first professional contract with FC Bayern – running until 2030. Noel Aseko Nkili, another highly talented homegrown player, will return to Säbener Straße this summer after a year-and-a-half on loan at Bundesliga 2 promotion hopefuls Hannover 96.
However, no further weißwurst breakfasts are currently planned. Instead, Sauer explained they are planning to make the thank-you gesture for the staff even bigger. “We’re currently giving serious thought to whether and when we’ll hold a barbecue at the Campus this summer to celebrate our record-breaking season in style.” Whether it’s bratwurst or weißwurst: the next event is definitely in the works.
We took a look at FC Bayern’s youngest Germany debutants:
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