Kompany Era Begins at Bayern: Pre-Season Insights
The Vincent Kompany era at FC Bayern starts not with fireworks, but with treadmills, test rigs and a stripped-back group reporting for duty in Munich.
While much of the squad is still coming down from the World Cup, the first day of pre-season for 2026/27 belongs to the early birds and the rehab group. Sven Ulreich, Tom Bischof, João Palhinha, Bryan Zaragoza, Sacha Boey and Arijon Ibrahimović are already on the pitch and in the gym, the first senior players at Kompany’s disposal as he lays down his ideas.
A second wave is working its way back. Serge Gnabry, Lennart Karl, David Santos Daiber and Cassiano Kiala are being eased in, their sessions tailored around ongoing rehabilitation. No rush, but no hiding place either. Under a new coach, every run, every drill, every test matters.
Data first, then the mountains
Bayern’s pre-season starts with numbers. Performance diagnostics come before tactics boards, with the bulk of the World Cup contingent – including the Germany internationals – booked in for testing on 27 and 28 July. From there, they will peel off individually and head south to the training camp at the Tegernsee.
That camp, running from 27 to 30 July, is where Kompany’s Bayern will first take shape in public. Sessions at 15:30 CEST are open daily, a deliberate move from a club that knows supporters want to see how the new man works, who looks sharp, who looks tired, and who suddenly catches the eye.
The first on-field marker arrives on 30 July, with the now traditional friendly against FC Rottach-Egern. It is a low-key opponent, but never a meaningless game: a first glimpse of structure, combinations, body language. As in previous years, Bayern will beam the match out via a free live stream on their official channels, turning a small Alpine fixture into a global curtain-raiser.
Staggered returns and a split summer
The squad will not come together in full for some time. Kompany’s puzzle is being assembled in pieces.
Luis Díaz, Konrad Laimer and Josip Stanišić are scheduled to link up with the group before the Audi Summer Tour to Jeju and Hong Kong, with departure set for 1 August. They will be part of the travelling core that takes Bayern’s new look into Asia, a tour that traditionally blends commercial duties with hard training and higher-profile friendlies.
The biggest names arrive even later. Harry Kane, Michael Olise and Dayot Upamecano will not join until the squad returns from Asia. So while the team tours, one of the most important phases of Kompany’s work will still be ahead of him: integrating his leading striker, a marquee attacking signing and a central defender into a system that is already in motion.
Jamal Musiala, Alphonso Davies, Ismael Saibari, Gnabry and Karl will also skip the Asia leg, instead training in Munich. Their presence at Säbener Straße gives Bayern a strong group at home, working under the same philosophy but in a different rhythm, as the coaching staff effectively run a split pre-season.
A quiet start to a loud season
For now, it is all about foundations. Diagnostics, double sessions, careful rehab. No trophies on offer, no points at stake, but plenty of decisions to be made and impressions to be formed.
The setting is familiar – Tegernsee, open sessions, Rottach-Egern – but the dynamic is not. With Kompany on the touchline and a staggered influx of World Cup returnees and star names still to come, this is a Bayern side being built in phases.
By the time Kane and company walk back through the door after Asia, the tempo will already be set. The question is simple and brutal: who will have used these early, quieter days to secure their place in Kompany’s Bayern, and who will find the new season has raced ahead without them?
