Bayern Munich's Musiala Returns, Freund's Future, Kane's Champions League Ambitions
Bayern Munich are juggling three big storylines at once: a star easing his way back after a scare, a key decision-maker weighing his future and a world-class striker openly chasing the one trophy that still eludes him.
Musiala back – but on a tight plan
Jamal Musiala finally stepped back onto a competitive pitch for Bayern last Saturday, and that alone felt like a win.
The 23-year-old came on in the 57th minute of the 0-0 draw at Schalke, replacing Lennart Karl. The game itself was drab, the newly promoted hosts holding Bayern in a goalless stalemate, but all eyes were on the elegant midfielder who had been forced to pause his career only weeks earlier.
Football-wise, not everything clicked for him. The final pass was missing, the rhythm not yet there. But he looked alive. He pressed, he challenged, he rode tackles. There was energy and robustness in every touch, a clear sign that he trusted his body again.
This was his first appearance since Bayern pulled him out of action after he collapsed in two friendly matches, episodes traced back to a neurological dysfunction. Those incidents cost him the Supercup in Dortmund against Borussia Dortmund (2-1), the Bundesliga opener against VfB Stuttgart (5-1) and the DFB Cup first-round tie at VfL Osnabrück (3-1).
“After the incidents, we gave him some of the calm he needed,” Bayern’s board member for sport Max Eberl said after the match in Gelsenkirchen.
The club adjusted his medication and, together with the doctors, the coaching staff and Musiala himself, mapped out the moment he could return. Eberl made one thing clear: once Musiala is in the squad, he is considered a full option. “We’re happy to have Jamal back, that he decides matches for us,” he said.
The comeback, though, will be managed with care. According to Bild, Bayern intend to increase his minutes “step by step” and build him up gradually. Planned breaks are part of the strategy, with his workload capped and constantly monitored. Every step will be coordinated closely with coach Vincent Kompany, who knows that Musiala at full tilt can transform Bayern’s attack – but also that there is no room for risk after what happened in pre-season.
Freund in demand – and in “consideration mode”
While Musiala works his way back, another key figure at Säbener Straße is deep in thought.
As reported by the Münchner Abendzeitung, Bayern want to extend the contract of sporting director Christoph Freund, which currently runs until 2027. The club would like clarity before the annual general meeting in November. After chief executive Jan-Christian Dreesen and sporting board member Max Eberl both committed their futures beyond next summer, the record champions want to lock in the third pillar of their sporting leadership.
For now, Freund is said to be in a “consideration phase”. One factor: the future of chief scout Nils Schmadtke. Like Freund, Schmadtke is under contract until 2027 and is considered close to Eberl. According to AZ, if Schmadtke were to leave, Freund would have the chance to install a chief scout of his own choosing, shaping the scouting department exactly to his ideas.
Inside the club, the signs still point towards an extension. Freund enjoys a strong reputation, with his work at the Campus particularly appreciated. His eye for talent and his structural approach have impressed those in charge. His relationship with coach Vincent Kompany is also described as very good – another reason Bayern are keen to keep him as part of the sporting brain trust.
Locking him down would send a clear message: stability at the top, even as the squad evolves.
Kane’s unfinished business in Europe
On the pitch, Harry Kane is thinking about only one thing: the Champions League.
The Bayern striker, 33, has made no secret of his ambition ahead of Thursday night’s group-stage opener against Bodö/Glimt (9pm, DAZN) on TNT Sports. After last season’s painful semi-final exit to eventual winners Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern are desperate for their seventh European crown. Kane is treating this campaign like a mission.
“We are very close,” he said. Last season, “small details made the difference”. Bayern, he insisted, are entering this Champions League season with a clear mindset: “It has to be our year.”
He knows how unforgiving the competition can be. In Europe, it is not enough to be the best team on paper. The margins are razor-thin, the breaks brutal. Kane spoke of the need for “the necessary luck at the right moment” and the challenge of finding that “small difference” that turns a semi-final heartbreak into a trophy lift.
That pursuit is shaping his entire career outlook. Retirement? He is not entertaining it. Not yet.
“There are still things at club level that I want to win. The same applies to the national team,” said the England captain, who racked up a remarkable 73 goals for Bayern and England last season. For him, this phase is too rich, too full of possibility to think about walking away. “That’s why, for me, it’s about savouring this moment for as long as possible.”
So Bayern move into the autumn with a gifted playmaker being rebuilt step by step, a sporting director weighing his long-term role and a world-class striker obsessed with ending a club’s European wait and his own.
If this really is to be “their year,” every one of those threads will have to fall into place.
