Lennart Karl
Club(s): Bayern Munich U19
Nationality: German
Age: 17 (February 22, 2008)
Position: Attacking Midfielder / Right Winger
Preferred Foot: Either
Height: <170cm
Browse the scout report of Lennart Karl:
Who is Lennart Karl?
Lennart Karl is a highly regarded prospect in Bayern Munich’s youth academy, having joined from Viktoria Aschaffenburg in 2022 after a brief stint with Eintracht Frankfurt.
Widely considered one of Germany’s most promising talents, Lennart Karl has already made waves in the U17 Bundesliga and with Germany’s youth international teams – making him one to watch for the upcoming UEFA Euro Under-17 Championship.
In the qualification to the Euro U17 tournament 2025, which starts in the middle of May, Karl has scored 7 goals in three matches in group stage 1 and continued his magnificent performance in the group stage 2 by making three assists and scoring 2 goals over 3 appearances. Together with Alexander Staff, Lennart Karl was one of the biggest factors for Germany U17 to qualify for the UEFA Euro U17 finals – knocking out Spain, the most successful team in the tournament with 9 trophies after their 3-2 victory on the 22nd of March 2025.
Not only is he the current top goalscorer in the Euro U17 qualification, but the German #10 will enter the tournament as one of the greatest stars, along with Max Dowman and Rio Ngumoha.
At the start of the 2024/25 season, Lennart Karl was one of the key players for the Bayern Munich Under-17 side. With a track-record of scoring goals, creating chances and making assists, the 17-year-old German wonderkid has thrived in the #10 role by scoring a remarkable 25 goals over 16 appearances as well as making 10 assists.
In February 2025, Lennart Karl was finally promoted to Bayern’s Under-19s side after a quick taste of U19s football in December 2024 where he debuted with a goal. He continued his impressive performances by scoring another 2 goals over 4 appearances – playing against footballers up to three years older than himself.
So far this year, the German world-class talent has made 15 assists and scored incredible 31 Goals(!) over 25 appearances for both Bayern and Germany U17.
His rapid development over the last two season has seen him being awarded to train with Bayern’s senior squad at just 16 years old, signaling his potential to break into the first team in the near future.
His development and impressive performances for Bayern Munich youth sides has not gone unnoticed, and both Ajax and Real Madrid has put Lennart Karl as their transfer target for the summer transfer window 2025, along with several other top clubs of Europe monitoring his progress. For now he is contracted to Bayern Munich until the summer of 2026 but anything can happen!
As one of the greatest products of the FC Bayern Global Academy since Thomas Müller and Jamal Musiala, Lennart Karl is one of the most interesting wonderkids in Europe, at least in my opinion.
In this scout report of Lennart Karl, you’ll get a unique chance to learn more about this amazing German Wonderkid who could easily become the next international star from Germany.
Positional Abilities
Lennart Karl is a highly versatile player, capable of operating in various attacking roles. Primarily, he functions as an attacking midfielder or central playmaker, but his technical versatility also allows him to seamlessly transition into a winger role on either flank.
In the attacking midfielder role, Lennart Karl is able to thrive as a creative playmaker who dominant between the lines by displaying exceptional vision and a keen sense of spatial awareness. This makes him capable of dictating the tempo and rhythm of the game despite being under intense pressure.
His ability to make incisive passes and break through defensive lines is a key attribute. His positioning allows him to drift between the lines, exploiting pockets of space to orchestrate attacks.
As a winger, Karl is equally dangerous, particularly on the right-hand side, where he can cut inside onto his stronger left foot. His pace, dribbling skills, and ability to deliver accurate crosses make him a constant threat in one-on-one situations against defenders.
Just like Jamal Musiala or Barcelona’s Pedri, Lennart Karl has the positional awareness and technical skills to either play as a #10 behind the striker in a 4-2-3-1 system, utilize his ball control and space awareness to play as a wide playmaker on the right flank in a 4-2-3-1 narrow, or as an inverted winger in a 4-3-3 system.
His magnificent skills and versatility enables him to play as Mezzala or Advanced Playmaker in a midfield three – enabling him to operate much like Martin Ødegaard at Arsenal or Pedri under Xavi.
Style of Play
Lennart Karl is a dynamic and fluid attacking player. His style is built around creativity, intelligence, and flair, making him a constant source of danger in the final third. He often combines his technical skills with a high football IQ, reading the game and anticipating movements well ahead of time.
Often operating behind the striker, his ability to dictate play in the final third makes his style of play resemble the Advanced Playmaker role in Football Manager but he can even play as an Attacking Midfielder. This enables him to take advantage of his fluid movement off the ball and his ability to roam across the attacking third as he’s looking to find space and create goal-scoring opportunities.
By sitting in the hole, Karl’s wonderful creativity and vision comes to force. Karl’s ability to see passes that others don’t is one of his standout qualities. Whether it’s threading through-ball passes to teammates or picking out players making runs in behind, his vision is exceptional for someone of his age.
On top of that, Lennart Karl is technically gifted, with excellent dribbling skills that allow him to glide past defenders. His close ball control and ability to change direction quickly make him unpredictable when carrying the ball forward – something that we’ve loved to see in the style of play of Jamal Musiala.
His flexibility in attack give him the ability to switch between various positions – enabling the manager to choose him as an attacking Advanced Playmaker, or a wide playmaker that cuts inside and move towards the centre to find pocket of spaces to utilize his incredible ball control, vision to both create chances or finish off goalscoring opportunities he or his teammates has created for him.
What’s Lennart Karl’s best skills?
Technical Ability
Karl possesses exceptional ball control, dribbling, and passing. Equally adept with both feet, and capable of executing accurate through balls, set-piece deliveries, and long-range shots, he excels both at creating chances as well as finishing them off. A rare feat for such a young attacking midfielder.
Altough he’s naturally left-footed, Karl has a decent right foot – enabling him to use both feet if necessary and could terrorize the opposing defence by using his unpredictability and close control to move inwards or outwards, or let them guess which feet he’ll use to create chances or make shots.
This makes him really difficult to read and defenders may have a hard time anticipate his next move as he picks up positions in the pocket of spaces in the right half space or more towards the right wing.
Dribbling:
With excellent dribbling skills, Karl can take on defenders in tight spaces. His close ball control allows him to glide past opponents while maintaining possession, making him dangerous in one-on-one situations.
Besides being able to create space for himself or his teammates by carrying the ball forward, Karl has the technical abilities to hold up the ball and use his dribbles and body feints to be that press-resistent playmaker the team needs when re-organizing themselves in the important seconds after winning the ball, or when entering the final third.
Thriving in counter-attacks with the ability to not only use his acceleration to beat his marker but also the agility, dribbles and close control to carry the ball forward before making a one-two or a placed shot makes him a fascinating player to watch.
His brilliant close control, low centre of gravity and wonderful technique could be credited to his days as a futsal player – picking up flair, agility, wonderful touch and an awareness and ball control in tight spaces that many footballers may envy.
Creativity and Playmaking
One of Karl’s key strengths is his creativity. His ability to pick out teammates with incisive passes and create goal-scoring opportunities is impressive for a player his age. He is capable of unlocking defensive systems with outstanding vision and precise passes by often favouring killer balls delivered into space as soon the opportunity arises.
With a quick forward up front who are ready to make those darting runs behind the defensive line, it brings another layer to the team’s attacking play – especially if the team favours a more Vertical Tiki-Taka style of play where they can utilize the direct attacking attitude of Lennart Karl’s final third abilities.
He has a great passing range in his vocabular and can easily make 30-yards passes off the ground as quick short passes that opens up the entire defensive block by using his creativity to progress the ball. Some of you might enjoy the vision behind his assists against Norway U17 the other day. You can see a highlight of his performance against Norway and judge yourself.
By weighting his passes perfectly, looking for precise through balls behind the defensive line and nicely made lay offs that helps the attacking side to switch the point of attack, Lennart Karl follows in the footsteps of Toni Kroos as the playmaking maestro at Bayern Munich.
His vision, decision-making and anticipation he can quickly make a difference in the game – whether it being using his intelligence to create dangerous chances, deliver key passes that eventually unlocks the opposition’s block or make attacking runs that create space, either for himself or for his teammates.
What’s remarkable is that he is equally good at being the architect of attacks as he is at finishing them off – something that his current statistics proves.
When playing as a winger, his creativity and wonderful technique to make low crosses as soon as he receives it, was the reason behind Germany’s first goal against Spain. It showcased his vision and anticipation in link-up play by weighting his cross perfectly with a curl that went outside the reach of the Spanish defenders feet.
Quick, agile, and technically proficient, Karl combines street-football flair with disciplined decision-making, making him unpredictable yet effective in the final third.
Off the ball movement & Positioning:
Although he excels with the ball at his feet, Lennart Karl is great at finding pocket of spaces between the lines to receive the ball before progressing the ball further.
His football intelligence, decisions and awareness, are well above his age – something that shows maturity on the field as he is good at picking up positions to receive the ball.
He could improve his off the ball movement and be more clever when timing his runs as he tends to start his runs too early. However, in the attacking transition he is great at hiding his runs at the back of the last defender and uses his intelligence to move into spaces that erupts on the flank.
This was the case in Lennart Karl’s goal against Spain when he hold his run slightly before quickly setting pace towards the penalty area as soon as the through ball was delivered towards him. The Spanish fullback never saw his run and Karl could confidently strike the ball towards the first post.
This shows both his attacking attitude and determination to get the ball into dangerous situations but also his quickness off the ball when it matters.
The world-class talent has a smartness in his game and a repertoir few other attacking midfielder in his age possess. He has the ability to change the entire outcome of the game with just one run, one pass or one shot!
Finishing and Composure:
While primarily a creator, Karl has shown a natural ability to finish chances in front of goal. His calmness and composure in one-on-one situations, coupled with a strong shooting technique, make him a legitimate goal-scoring threat.
Against Norway U17, Lennart Karl cut inside from the left and placed the ball towards the far post with a powerful strike – much like how Lamine Yamal has done with so much confidence over the past year.
This shows his incredible instinct to know when to shoot or pass. At the same time, he is never afraid to finish off the chance and might get a better track-record of scoring goals from inside the final third than Martin Ødegaard or other similar type of players.
What’s evident is that whenever Karl gets the ball, it leads to a dangerous situation. His abilities and unpredictability makes us all hold our breath as he can easily shoot from outside the penalty area, as delivering a perfectly weighted through ball that splits the opposition apart.
Set-Pieces
His technical abilities has not only been evident in passing or finishing as he likes to strike the ball from long range but also in how he’s adept at bending the ball over the wall and into the net at freekicks from just outside the penalty area.
Karl is highly proficient in dead-ball situations, whether it’s taking free kicks or delivering accurate corners from either side. For Spain, he is their primary freekick and corner taker. His ability to generate pace and accuracy on crosses and set pieces is a major asset that has resulted in a number of chances or goals.
His accuracy at free-kicks nearly saw the player score a wonderful goal only a few minutes in the Spain match earlier in March. Unfortunately the ball went just outside the near post. In the same match, he made a number of dangerous outswinging corners that was delivered with a swirl and a dip that caused chaos in the opposing team’s defensive organization.
Defensive Contribution
Out of possession, Lennart Karl has the tendency to have rather quiet stays as he often focus more on creating attacking plays. However, his wonderful anticipation and defensive work rate when counter-pressing sees the German wonderkid often intercept passes or knocking off the ball out of the opposing attackers feet before a dangerous situation arises.
Personally I believe his tendency to press the ball carrier and regain possession of the ball in important situations draws similarities to Arsenal’s Martin Ødegaard – who is brilliant at harassing the opposition in the final third.
Now, it’s important to remark that Lennart Karl has a tendency to shy away from close contacts and making diving tackles but it all depends on what’s required – whether the team is in balance or not. If there’s not enough defensive cover, he is not afraid to sprint back and try to claim the ball by putting in a tackle. However, it’s the success of these tackles that aren’t the highest.
Using his quickness off the mark and awareness of where the ball may land, Lennart Karl is adept at taking up positions that disrupts the entire build-up of the opposition’s attacking play. What’s striking is that he isn’t the most physical but uses his positional understanding and awareness to block off passing lanes without conserving a lot of energy.
Weaknesses
Defensive Contribution: While Karl is an attacking dynamo, his defensive work rate and pressing intensity could improve. He tends to focus more on creating attacking plays and sometimes shows a lack of tracking back when the opposition transitions quickly.
Physical Strength: At 16 years old, Karl is still developing physically. He can sometimes be brushed off the ball by more physically mature opponents. His strength, particularly in duels and aerial challenges, is an area for growth.
As I see it, he could benefit from packing some muscles. Not only to avoid injuries by improving his natural fitness but also to be better at challenging off opponents in close contact duels.
This will be especially important if he should be a viable option for the first team in the near future, considering the physical demands of the German Bundesliga.
Elite Explosiveness & Speed: Although Karl is fairly quick over the first few metres, he would need to improve his acceleration and pace if he should become a world-class winger. It’s a huge difference between the quickness of Lennart Karl vs Gabriel Mec or Rio Ngumoha of a similar age.
Consistency: Like many young players, Karl’s performances can fluctuate. His decision-making under pressure, while generally good, could still improve. There are moments where he may try to force the play or make overly ambitious passes.
Then there are times where he has quiet spells where he is rarely noticeable. Whether this is to conserve energy and avoid attracting attention or a matter of instability in his performances is a question mark. What’s often the case is that he can burst into space and be pivotal to the outcome of the match in the next half.
Aerial Ability: While Karl is good with the ball at his feet, his aerial game is not as strong. He can be ineffective in headers, both defensively and offensively, and could improve his timing and positioning in aerial duels, as well as his heading abilities and jumping reach.
However, since he’s destined to be the team’s primary freekick or corner taker, his aerial abilities is not that important to his style of play. The only con is if there are crosses towards the back post and Karl is forced to track the run of the opposing winger and therefor needs to challenge him when aerial balls are delivered towards his position.
Lennart Karl in Football Manager 2024
Born in 2008, Lennart Karl is too young to be in the official Football Manager 2024 database. Luckily, we have mimiced the style of play and outstanding abilities of Lennart Karl in Football Manager 2024. You can discover the world-class potential of Bayern Munich’s Lennart Karl in the FM25 NextGen Wonderkids database.
If you’re curious to find out how good Lennart Karl is, Football Manager YouTuber FranklyFM84 has used Football Manager to simulate Lennart Karl’s career 15 years into the future.
It gives you an unique insight into one of the best wonderkids for Football Manager 2026 as this German wonderkid is one potential wonderkid for FM26 that we believe you should know of!
Conclusion
Lennart Karl is a generational talent with the potential to redefine Bayern Munich’s midfield in the coming years. His blend of creativity, goal-scoring prowess, and technical brilliance makes him a standout prospect. Compared to Martin Ødegaard for his outstanding vision and dubbed the new Jamal Musiala for his man of the match abilities, Lennart Karl is a world-class talent with immense potential.
While there are areas of his game that need refinement, especially in terms of physicality and defensive contribution, his development at Bayern Munich’s prestigious academy will undoubtedly shape him into a future star. If he continues to develop physically and adapts to senior football, Karl could emerge as one of Europe’s top playmakers by the end of the decade.
Given his potential, it’s only a matter of time before he makes the jump to the first team, where he can further showcase his talents on the grand stage.
Lennart Karl is a German wonderkid you need to watch closely—his ceiling is sky-high!
Potential Rating: 9.5/10
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Credits: Thanks to Korky Blues for creating the thumbnail for Lennart Karl’s scout report.
