According to a report from Kicker journalist Georg Holzner (as captured by @iMiaSanMia), Bayern Munich is about to give fans something they were clamoring for last season — a bigger role for midfielder Tom Bischof.
Bischof, who made the move from Hoffenheim to Bayern Munich last summer, often played out of position at left-back or right-back last season for the Bavarians, as Joshua Kimmich, Leon Goretzka, Aleksandar Pavlović, and even Raphaël Guerreiro ate up the majority of the midfield minutes.
Now, though, Bischof looks ready to be an important part of the group:
Tom Bischof will play a significantly bigger role under Vincent Kompany in the coming season. The German U21 captain is the player who will benefit the most from the departures of Leon Goretzka and Raphaël Guerreiro. Bischof is to take over Goretzka’s role as third midfielder, while also retaining the versatility that made Guerreiro valuable, including the ability to fill in at left-back and in the attacking areas if necessary. In doing so, Bischof will effectively replace two departing players at once and receive plenty of game time.
With Noël Aséko Nkili likely headed to Eintracht Frankfurt and David Santos Daiber unproven and coming off of an injury, Bischof has a much more clear pathway to playing time than he did last season. Kimmich aging up another year and Pavlović’s poor World Cup showing could present a good opportunity for Bischof to really take advantage of the situation and prove his mettle.
BFW Analysis
Bischof was said to be distraught about his omission from the German national team. After being called up based on his work at Hoffenheim in May of 2025, Bischof figured to be a shoo-in to make the World Cup squad after transferring to Bayern Munich.
Even after a year of training in Bayern Munich’s high intensity environment and being a contributor on a world class Bayern Munich team, then-Germany head coach Julian Nagelsmann opted for players like Pascal Groß, Felix Nmecha, Assan Ouédraogo, and Nadiem Amiri.
While Amiri had some nice moments as a sub, Groß was poor, Nmecha faded badly in the final two games and had a hand in allowing two key goals, while Ouédraogo never got off the bench. Even Bischof’s rudimentary skills at outside-back could have helped given that Nagelsmann only included two left-backs and no natural right-backs on his roster.
Now, it could be time for Bayern Munich and Germany to see if Bischof will live up to the hype he generated as a heralded prospect or if he becomes the latest German midfielder to not be able to take his game to the next level.
Join the conversation!
Sign up for a user account and get:
- New, improved notifications system!
- Fewer ads
- Create community posts
- Comment on articles, community posts
- Rec comments, community posts
