Vincent Kompany Begins New Era at FC Bayern for 2026/27 Pre-Season
Vincent Kompany ushers in a new era at Säbener Straße today as FC Bayern open their pre-season for 2026/27, the first steps of a campaign that already feels loaded with expectation.
The full squad is still scattered across the globe, World Cup fatigue lingering in tired legs and late holidays, but the work in Munich has already begun. While the big names filter back in stages, a core group is on the pitch and under scrutiny.
Sven Ulreich, Tom Bischof, João Palhinha, Bryan Zaragoza, Sacha Boey and Arijon Ibrahimović are the first senior players at Kompany’s disposal, forming the early spine of his preparations. Around them, the medical and performance staff are busy with another key task: rebuilding what Bayern hope will be a fully firing squad by August.
Serge Gnabry, Lennart Karl, David Santos Daiber and Cassiano Kiala are on a different timetable. All four continue their rehab, being eased carefully back into team training rather than thrown into full sessions. Their progress will be watched closely; their availability later in the summer could shape how bold Kompany can be in his early tactical decisions.
The opening days are less about balls and tactics, more about numbers and thresholds. Performance diagnostics come first. The majority of the World Cup contingent, including the Germany internationals, are scheduled for testing on 27 and 28 July. Only once they have been assessed will they drip-feed into the main group.
From there, the action shifts south. Players will travel individually to the training camp at the Tegernsee, where Kompany will finally start to see his squad take shape on the grass rather than on a planning board.
The timing is tight. Luis Díaz, Konrad Laimer and Josip Stanišić are due to link up with the group just before Bayern fly out for the Audi Summer Tour to Jeju and Hong Kong on 1 August. It is a narrow window for the coach to impose his demands before the club steps onto the commercial and competitive stage in Asia.
Some of the heaviest artillery will arrive even later. Harry Kane, Michael Olise and Dayot Upamecano are set to join only after the squad returns from the Asian leg. Jamal Musiala, Alphonso Davies, Ismael Saibari, Gnabry and Karl will also come back into the fold at that point, working in Munich rather than on tour as they build up their fitness.
Before all that, Tegernsee becomes the focal point. From 27 to 30 July, Bayern will hold a training camp on the lakeside, with daily open sessions at 15:30 CEST. Supporters will be able to watch Kompany at close quarters as he starts to stitch together his ideas, experiment with combinations and set the tone for the season.
The now traditional friendly against FC Rottach-Egern on 30 July caps the camp. It is a fixture that rarely offers competitive jeopardy but always provides a first, if gentle, look at Bayern’s rhythm, intensity and emerging hierarchy under a new coach. As usual, the match will be available via a free live stream on the club’s official channels, a soft launch for a side expected to be anything but soft once the real games begin.
For now, it is stopwatches, fitness tests and staggered arrivals. Soon enough, it will be about selection calls, pressing triggers and results. Kompany’s Bayern have started. The question is how quickly they can turn this carefully phased pre-season into a team ready to dominate.
