It seemed impossible to stop Frans Krätzig last year. After an incredible pre-season with Bayern Munich and a brilliant goal against Liverpool FC, the youth player became a member of the senior team and impressed. It seemed his hot start had died after his minutes started declining as the season wore on, but he then moved to Austria Vienna on loan in January and impressed again. Riding on a wave of confidence and form, he moved to Vizemeister VFB Stuttgart in the summer and set up a goal within a minute of his debut against Bayer Leverkusen.
And then the hot streak finally died out. Krätzig has struggled to beat out Germany’s starting left back Maximilian Mittelstädt in the left back role and even failed to make head coach Sebastian Hoeness’ matchday squad in the two Bundesliga games before the October international break. Does that make this move a bust or can it still work out? @iMiaSanMia_GER captured a report that says the latter may be the case:
VfB Stuttgart is very happy with Frans Krätzig so far. As a backup to Maximilian Mittelstädt, however, he only gets a few appearances. The purchase option for him is under €10 million, the club says it is more likely to be ~€5 million
The point of adding the buy option, from a Bayern point of view, is to give clubs an incentive to develop these players. The people at Bayern will keeping an eye on the youngster and hope that the club’s happiness with Krätzig results in some actual playing time, as well.
Looking to get ready for Bayern Munich’s big Bundesliga showdown with VfB Stuttgart? We’ve got you covered with our Bavarian Podcast Works — Preview Show, where we hit on the recent form of each team, take a look at the league table, discuss the injury situations for both clubs, take a guess at the lineups, and attempt to predict the final score. You can get the show at Patreon, Spotify, or below:
Be sure to stay tuned to Bavarian Podcast Works for all of your up to date coverage on Bayern Munich and Germany. Check us out on Patreon and follow us on Twitter @BavarianFBWorks, @BavarianPodcast @TheBarrelBlog, @BFWCyler, @bfwinnn, @IredahlMarcus, @2012nonexistent, @TommyAdams71 and more.
