Max Eberl feels Bayern Munich’s South Korea tour benefited Kim Min-jae

Albeit a relatively short trip, Bayern Munich’s Audi Summer preseason tour in South Korea has largely been a success from a standpoint of training, fan exposure, off-pitch events, and, of course, the 2-1 friendly win over Tottenham Hotspur in Seoul.

Center-back Kim Min-jae has slightly played the part of gracious host for the rest of his Bayern teammates in his native country, having travelled back home slightly ahead of the rest of the squad. He has been acclimatizing the squad to cultural traditions, cuisine, and a handful of sites the country has to offer.

Personally for Kim, he is in the midst of the preseason preparations where he will very much be looking to improve upon what was an underwhelming first season with the Rekordmeister after completing his move from SSC Napoli last summer. After starting most of the hinrunde as a regular started in Thomas Tuchel’s team selections, he struggled to gain any sort of consistency in the squad after he returned from Asian Cup duties with South Korea just after the start of the rückrunde. After completing a winter move from Tottenham, Eric Dier established himself as one of Tuchel’s preferred starting center-backs, most often alongside either Matthijs de Ligt or Dayot Upamecano.

For Kim, he will certainly want to have a more regular spot in Kompany’s starting selections, and there is a sort of a clean slate at play with the fact that there is a new manager with an entirely new coaching staff that he brought with him. For board member for sport Max Eberl, the brief preseason tour in South Korea has really given Kim a chance to further integrate with the squad and become a focal piece in the Bayern dressing room.

“This trip helps further with his integration. He has been with Bayern for a year now. Not everything went as he had imagined. That’s why I believe this fresh start is extremely good for him. We play somewhat differently: There is a great responsibility for the central defenders. Minjae has handled that really well so far. We expect a lot from him. It’s not for nothing that he was the top player in Serie A 14 months ago, and we have a lot of confidence in him,” Eberl explained when he was asked about the center back nicknamed “The Monster”

So far, Kim has featured in all three of Bayern’s preseason friendlies thus far against Tottenham, FC Düren and FC Rottach-Egern, but it is unclear how much of what we have seen already from the friendlies is any barometer of how Kompany feels about his strongest starting lineup. De Ligt has only just returned to Sabener Straße and is the subject of a potential move to Manchester United this summer. In the same vein, Upamecano still is not yet back with the squad after his EURO 2024 excursions with France and extended holiday.