Serge Gnabry Reclaims Place in Bayern's Lineup

Serge Gnabry spent the summer of 2025 rewriting his Bayern story.

First came his 30th birthday on 14 July. Then came something far more significant: a place back in Bayern Munich’s strongest XI. Only a year earlier, he had been drifting towards the exit door, spoken about more as a potential sale than a pillar of the team. Suddenly, he was central again – not just because of a sharp pre-season, but because Bayern’s options were brutally thin.

Harry Kane, Michael Olise and Luis Diaz were untouchable. Three superstars, three locked-in names on Vincent Kompany’s team sheet. In the coach’s 4-2-3-1, that left a single vacancy in the line of three behind Kane. One serious candidate: Serge Gnabry.

Jamal Musiala was out long term with a fibula fracture. Lennart Karl was clearly gifted, but still filed under “one for the future”. Nicolas Jackson only arrived on Deadline Day at the start of September and then needed weeks to find his feet.

So, in the biggest matches, it boiled down to a stark choice: Gnabry or nothing. Kompany went with experience. Gnabry started the bulk of the marquee games, even as Karl rapidly emerged as a credible rival, Jackson began to receive chances he rarely converted, and Musiala finally returned in January.

A crowded No. 10

Now the landscape has changed again. That once lonely spot behind Kane has turned into the most fiercely contested role in Munich.

Alongside Kane, Olise and Diaz, there is a four-man fight for the final attacking berth: Musiala, Gnabry, Karl and €50 million signing Ismael Saibari. All four can realistically expect minutes. With Bayern facing a relentless schedule, Kompany will have to lean on rotation. The only uncertainty is brutal and simple: who starts when it really matters?

On paper, Musiala should be the favourite. He wears the No. 10. He is one of the club’s top earners. He was supposed to be the face of Bayern’s future and a non-negotiable starter.

Reality looks harsher. Since his comeback in January, Musiala has not reached the electric level that once made him Bayern’s great hope. After a disappointing World Cup, he had a metal plate removed from his foot. Then came the worrying scenes in pre-season.

His collapses in friendlies against RB Leipzig and 1. FC Heidenheim have raised serious questions about whether the 23-year-old can withstand the physical and mental strain at the very top. Doctors have diagnosed absence epilepsy, yet neurologist Dr Regina Becker underlined in an interview with SPOX that a professional football career is still entirely possible with the condition.

Musiala has no intention of stepping away. In a widely shared Instagram statement, he stressed that, in close and regular consultation with specialists, it remains his personal wish to face the challenge and, with medical clearance, continue his everyday life and his passion for football. For him, playing is part of the healing process, not a threat to it.

Saibari seizes the early initiative

While Musiala wrestles with form and health, Gnabry and Karl have been fighting their own battles. Both missed the World Cup with muscle injuries. Both spent large chunks of pre-season working alone, rebuilding fitness, waiting to be folded back into full training.

They are now back with the group. There is even a chance they could feature as early as the Super Cup against Borussia Dortmund on Saturday. By the Bundesliga opener against VfB Stuttgart the following Friday, they are expected to be fully in contention.

Yet the man with the early advantage is Saibari. Fresh from an eye-catching World Cup with Morocco, the 25-year-old also had to pause with a torn muscle fibre. That delay is over. He is up to speed, has impressed in his first two friendlies and delivered an assist in the 3-1 win over Leipzig.

Right now, compared with Musiala, Gnabry and Karl, Saibari is the sharpest, the fittest, the most rhythmically in tune with match tempo. That alone gives him a head start in this scrap for the final attacking place.

Youngsters knocking, door half-open

While the established names were missing, others used pre-season to make noise. Loan returnee Arijon Ibrahimovic, 20, and academy products Tim Binder, 19, and Maycon Cardozo, 17, all left strong impressions.

Karl showed last season how quickly a youngster can force his way into Kompany’s thoughts. One of this new trio could, in theory, follow that path. But the route looks steeper this time. Bayern’s squad is deeper, the hierarchy more crowded, the margin for surprise much smaller.

For now, the spotlight falls on one question: when the first truly defining night of the season arrives, whose name will Kompany write in that final attacking slot?