Karl as the hope of the national team
The 1990 world champion compared the Bayern starlet to Messi
Updated 11/20/2025 – 09:36Reading time: 1 minute.
Lennart Karl impressed Olaf Thon with his style of play at FC Bayern. The 1990 world champion has a lot of faith in the 17-year-old – and compared him to superstar Lionel Messi.
Olaf Thon hailed Bayern’s Lennart Karl as a great talent. Karl not only has the potential “to become a regular at Bayern, but also in the national team,” said Thon, a 1990 title winner, in an interview with Sport 1. “The way he plays, you can compare him to Messi.”
Messi is actually Karl’s great role model. He recently said in a DFB interview: “Unfortunately, I haven’t played against him.” Thon also said: “Whether he can emulate these great idols remains to be seen. But the start is there.” First of all, Karl had to assert himself against the record German champions.
The Bayern attacking midfielder could be a candidate for the German national team at the next World Cup. Other young players such as Karl’s Bayern teammate Tom Bischof and Cologne’s Saïd El Mala are also the focus of national coach Julian Nagelsmann.
Thon stressed: “All three are amazing.” RB Leipzig’s Assan Ouédraogo, who scored on his DFB debut against Slovakia, and FC Brugge’s Nicoló Tresoldi are also long-term candidates for the national team. According to Nagelsmann recently, everyone is “in the draw” for the summer World Cup in the US, Canada and Mexico.
