Lennart Karl says his parents doubted his move to Bayern at 14

Lennart Karl has recalled how difficult it was to persuade his parents to let him join Bayern Munich’s academy when he was 14, saying his mother was especially unsure about the move.

“My parents weren't so convinced, especially my mother,” the 18-year-old said in an interview with DAZN. Karl said he had other offers but was determined to go to Bayern after seeing the club’s campus. “I said I'm going to do it. I'm going to see this through.”

The move meant living at boarding school, and Karl admitted he felt homesick during his first two weeks. That changed after he got to know the other boys there: “It was a really, really cool time,” he said.

From occasional minutes to a Champions League breakthrough

Karl expected it would be hard to earn playing time under Bayern coach Vincent Kompany. He said he was first used occasionally, then earned a place in the starting XI. Recalling the sequence, he mentioned a game against Hoffenheim or Wehen Wiesbaden in the DFB-Pokal, followed by an assist against Hoffenheim and a goal against Club Brugge.

“I thought to myself, wow, everything [in my career] was happening really fast,” Karl said. The Champions League had long been a dream, he added, and his career had quickly begun to move “uphill.”