Bayern Munich players who must shine this season

The arrival of Harry Kane in the summer transfer window proves that Bayern Munich means business in this campaign, as the English striker is one of the best frontmen in the world.

English players rarely leave their country because clubs in the Premier League pay the best salaries, and other European sides struggle to meet their financial muscle.

Because of this, the likes of Kane would have been expected to move to Manchester City or Manchester United instead of leaving England.

But Bayern fought and worked hard to sign the 30-year-old for around 100 million euros, a good deal for Spurs, who made some cool cash from a player who has already broken goalscoring records at the club.

Bayern is now as equipped as any club in the continent, and their fans will expect the team to win the Champions League as it did in 2020.

Their current team has the players that will make fans flock to vetted sellers to buy Bayern Munich tickets for every game.

The Bavarians already have some of the most exciting talents in Europe in every area of their pitch, and most of them have a point to prove in this campaign. In this article, we look at the players under Tuchel who absolutely have to shine in the 2023/2024 term.

Harry Kane

The English striker reached Munich days before the Premier League season began when most of us believed he would remain at Tottenham to run down his contract.

But Bayern took the challenge and fought until the end of the transfer window to get their man through the door.

Since Robert Lewandowski left the club, they have not had a good number nine, and fans can be confident they have finally replaced the Polish striker.

Kane comes to Bayern as an accomplished goal machine hungry for team success and will surely deliver the goals.

The 2018 World Cup Golden Boot winner scored 280 goals in 435 games for Tottenham before leaving England.

He already has nine goals from eight games for Bayern at the time of this writing, and it is just the start of his spell in Bavaria.

Players need time to adapt to their new environment and teammates, so Kane will get even more comfortable in the coming weeks, making him score more goals.

The striker is one player who must shine because of the fee used to purchase him and the reputation he has built up in the last few terms, but he is clearly good enough for the challenge.

Serge Gnabry

It seems like decades ago when Gnabry could not get into the Arsenal and West Brom team, but he has now won multiple Bundesliga crowns, as well as the Champions League.

The German was the star in the Bayern team that won the Champions League in 2020 and delivered some stunning performances en route to the final of that competition.

He almost left the club last season, but Bayern showed their commitment to keeping their best talents by offering him a new contract to stay.

Gnabry has scored 82 goals for Bayern Munich and remains one of their go-to players, but his numbers have not been very impressive in the last few seasons.

The attacker scored just 17 times in 47 games for the club last season and has not scored up to 20 goals in a season since the 2019/2020 term.

This is an important campaign for him as he is expected to prove he can still be relied on to score the goals that the team needs.

Leroy Sane

One player Bayern is sure they can trust every term is Leroy Sane, who has started this season very well.

The former Manchester City winger is still just 27, which is great, and he has to bring unrivalled success to the club in this campaign with his contribution.

Sane is expected to be the closest player to Kane and their partnership would make fans leak their lips because both men are established footballers.

Sane has experience playing in some of the best leagues in the world, having also spent time in the Premier League with City.

The German has already scored six times in seven games in the Bundesliga and the Champions League.

If he meets the huge expectations fans have placed on him, the club should find it easy to win the league and Champions League again.

Kim Min-Jae

Min-jae comes to Bayern as a league winner after achieving success at Napoli in the last campaign.

The South Korean is one of the best defenders in the world now and has kept Matthijs de Ligt on the bench at the start of the term.

He came to Munich with a big reputation, as several clubs also wanted to sign him. Bayern’s defence was not as solid as it should be in the last campaign and they only won the league because Borussia Dortmund flopped.

However, with Min-jae at the back, the Bavarians expect a much better performance from their defence in this campaign.

He did well in Naples and has even better players to work with in Munich, so he has to show he truly is now one of the best on the planet this term. 

Matthijs de Ligt

De Ligt was one of the best defenders in Europe when he was 19 and captained Ajax to the semi-final of the Champions League in 2019.

The defender would secure a summer move to Juventus that summer as one of the most expensive centre-backs of all time.

He was a regular at Juve before moving to Bayern last season, but it has been challenging for him to play as often as he would like.

Despite having him in the group, the Bavarians bought Min-jae in the last transfer window and his arrival has reduced the game time of De Ligt.

The Dutchman is expected to prove his worth by showing he is better than the new signing and should be the starter alongside Dayot Upamecano, who seems to have nailed down a starting spot in Munich.

Noussair Mazraoui

Mazraoui was courted by several clubs in Europe when he played for Ajax, and Bayern won the race for his signature ahead of the likes of Barcelona and Juventus.

Last season was tough for the Moroccan as he struggled to play ahead of Benjamin Pavard, and he even threatened to leave the club.

However, Bayern made him stay eventually; this is a season for him to prove he can be trusted as their first choice.

Pavard left for Inter Milan in the last transfer window, leaving the door open for Mazraoui to become the first choice at the Allianz Arena.

If he flops this term, Bayern will invest in a new defender in the next summer transfer window, and he would have only himself to blame.

Konrad Laimer

The departure of Ryan Gravenberch to Liverpool in the last transfer window means Bayern is light in midfield.

One man who made the Dutchman see only a few minutes in matches is Laimer, who has just arrived at the club.

He comes with a big reputation, having been one of the best players in the Bundesliga at RB Leipzig.

He now has to prove that he is good enough for the top clubs in the country and would compete against some top talents in the Bayern squad for playing time.

Bayern remains one of the top clubs in the world, and this season is another chance for them to win another Champions League crown.

The arrival of Kane makes them much more potent, and it is hard not to see that they are now good enough in attack, considering the other players they have for roles upfront.

However, they will compete with some sophisticated clubs for trophies as well.