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MAINZ, GERMANY - MAY 31: Lennart Karl of Germany looks on during the international friendly match between Germany and Finland at MEWA Arena on May 31, 2026 in Mainz, Germany. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Lennart Karl had a stellar breakout season with Bayern Munich in the 2025/26 season, tallying 17 G/A (nine goals, eight assists) in a highly successful club season with the Bavarians. At only 18 years of age, he has already cemented himself as a first team regular and surely warrants a high ranking in the Golden Boy award, right? Well, not exactly:
As you can see, Karl is ranked 8th behind the likes of Yan Diomande, Ayoub Bouaddi, Victor Froholdt, and Estêvão. I can sort of understand why Diomande and Bouaddi are ranked higher: Diomande had insane stats at Leipzig last season (okay, that checks out) while Bouaddi had an alright outing at the World Cup but had mediocre stats (that’s already suspect). Froholdt and Estêvão had lower goal involvements last season.
Now we can sit here all day debating who should be where and who was more important for their team, or how Karl’s untimely injury may have played a part in this, but that’s for another time. The point here is that Karl should be at least top five, because putting him at 8th is undercooking it.
The last player to win a Golden Boy award for Bayern was Renato Sanches in 2016, on a technicality because he completed the move to Bayern around the time the award was given.
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