Kompany Era Begins: Bayern Munich Pre-Season for 2026/27

The World Cup is barely cooling down, but at Säbener Straße the next chapter has already started. FC Bayern reported back today for the first day of pre-season under Vincent Kompany, the man tasked with reshaping Germany’s record champions for 2026/27.

Not everyone is there yet. Not even close. The World Cup contingent will return in waves over the coming weeks, their workloads carefully managed after a long summer. But the training pitches are far from empty.

Sven Ulreich, Tom Bischof, João Palhinha, Bryan Zaragoza, Sacha Boey and Arijon Ibrahimović are already on the grass and under Kompany’s eye. Around them, a second group is easing its way back: Serge Gnabry, Lennart Karl, David Santos Daiber and Cassiano Kiala are being drip-fed into full sessions as part of their rehab programmes, their minutes and movements monitored step by step.

For now, this is not about tactics or glamour. It is about numbers, data, thresholds. The first days are dominated by performance diagnostics, the brutal but necessary baseline for a long season.

Most of the World Cup players, including Bayern’s Germany internationals, are scheduled for those tests on 27 and 28 July. From there, they will peel off individually towards the club’s traditional training camp at the Tegernsee, joining Kompany’s group as their programmes allow.

The squad will grow piece by piece. Luis Díaz, Konrad Laimer and Josip Stanišić are due to link up with the team before Bayern board the plane for the Audi Summer Tour to Jeju and Hong Kong on 1 August. Harry Kane, Michael Olise and Dayot Upamecano will slot back in only after the Asia trip, along with Jamal Musiala, Alphonso Davies, Ismael Saibari, Gnabry and Karl, who will continue their work in Munich during that spell.

Tegernsee Training Camp

Tegernsee, as so often, will be Bayern’s early-season laboratory. From 27 to 30 July, Kompany will have his players in camp on the lakeside, with daily open training sessions at 15:30 CEST. Fans will be able to watch the new coach’s methods up close, to see who looks sharp, who is still heavy-legged, who is already catching the eye.

The now familiar curtain-raiser against FC Rottach-Egern rounds off the stay on 30 July. It is a fixture that long ago outgrew its modest surroundings, a gentle run-out that still offers a first glimpse of ideas, combinations and body language. As in previous years, Bayern will stream the friendly free of charge across the club’s official channels, turning a local test into a global pre-season ritual.

The schedule is set, the phases are mapped out, the returnees are staggered. Kompany has his starting point. What he builds from this carefully managed pre-season will define how far Bayern can stretch once the real games begin.