Bayern Munich's Creative Battle: Who Will Claim the No. 10 Spot?

Serge Gnabry spent the summer of 2025 rewriting his Bayern Munich story. He turned 30 on 14 July, walked back into pre-season as a man on the market, and walked out of it as Vincent Kompany’s No. 10. Not because he suddenly became undroppable. Because Bayern suddenly had no one else.

Harry Kane, Michael Olise and Luis Díaz were locked into the front line. Those three names were inked, not pencilled, into Kompany’s 4-2-3-1. Behind Kane, one slot remained. One playmaker’s chair. And with Jamal Musiala out for months after a fibula fracture, the options were brutally thin.

Lennart Karl? Hugely gifted, but still a teenager at the time and expected to be eased in. Nicolas Jackson? Only arrived on Deadline Day in early September and needed weeks to find his bearings. The reality through the autumn was stark: for the biggest games, it was Gnabry or nobody.

Kompany went with experience. Gnabry started the majority of the headline fixtures, even as Karl accelerated faster than anyone at Säbener Straße had predicted and Jackson was given chances he couldn’t quite grab. When Musiala finally returned in January, he joined a hierarchy that had shifted in his absence.

A four-way fight behind Bayern’s superstar trio

The only certainties in Bayern’s attack are still Kane, Olise and Díaz. Everything else is up for grabs. The fourth spot – the creative hub in behind – has become one of the most contested roles in German football.

Musiala, Gnabry, Karl and €50 million signing Ismael Saibari all have a realistic claim. The calendar is jammed, Kompany will have to rotate, and everyone will get minutes. But nobody inside the club can say with conviction who starts when the stakes are highest.

On paper, Musiala should be leading the queue. He wears the No. 10 shirt. He earns like a franchise player. He was supposed to be the face of Bayern’s next era. Right now, he is nowhere near that status.

Since his comeback in January, Musiala has struggled to rediscover his old rhythm. The disappointment of the World Cup was followed by surgery to remove a metal plate from his foot. Then came the images that rattled Bayern: his collapses in friendlies against RB Leipzig and 1. FC Heidenheim.

Those incidents triggered serious questions about whether the 23-year-old can handle the relentless demands at the top level. The diagnosis of absence epilepsy followed. Yet, as neurologist Dr Regina Becker underlined in an interview with SPOX, professional football remains entirely possible with the condition.

Musiala does not intend to step away. In a widely shared Instagram statement, he wrote that, in close coordination and regular consultation with medical experts, it was his personal wish to face the challenge and, with the clearance of neurological specialists, to continue his everyday life and keep pursuing his passion for football.

The message was clear: he wants to fight for his place, not be wrapped in cotton wool.

Saibari seizes the early initiative

While the spotlight has followed Musiala, the fitness landscape around him has shifted. Gnabry, now 31, and Karl, still only 18, both missed the World Cup with muscle injuries. Their summers were not about showreels but rehab rooms. They spent long stretches of pre-season working alone, slowly ticking off stages of their return.

The reintegration has begun. Both are back in team training and could feature as early as Saturday’s Super Cup against Borussia Dortmund. If that comes too soon, the Bundesliga opener against VfB Stuttgart the following Friday is seen as the realistic target for a full return to contention.

Saibari, though, has stolen a march on all of them.

Fresh from an impressive World Cup with Morocco, the 25-year-old also had to pause with a torn muscle fibre. Once he shook that off, he hit the ground running. In his first two friendlies he looked sharp, secure on the ball, and already on the same wavelength as his new teammates. He capped that start with an assist in the 3-1 win over Leipzig.

Right now, Saibari is simply the fittest of the four. In a battle this tight, that matters. He goes into the opening weeks of the season with a genuine edge.

Young challengers, but a deeper Bayern

While the main cast were missing, others stepped into the frame. Loan returnee Arijon Ibrahimovic, 20, used pre-season to remind everyone of his talent. Academy products Tim Binder, 19, and Maycon Cardozo, just 17, also impressed when given chances.

There is a temptation to see another Lennart Karl-style rise in their performances, another teenager leaping from the academy to the first-team spotlight in a matter of months. Bayern, though, are better stocked this time. The pathway is more crowded, the bar higher.

One of Ibrahimovic, Binder or Cardozo could still force Kompany’s hand as the season wears on. But unlike last year, Bayern do not need a bolt from the blue to plug a gap behind Kane.

This time, the problem is different. Kompany has four serious contenders and only one vacant chair. Who claims it when the Champions League anthem plays and the pressure bites?