Why Niklas Dorsch Will Be the Next Talent to Climb the Ranks at Bayern Munich

Looking through the ranks at Bayern Munich, several young central midfielders stand out as having the potential to become big stars.

There is Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and new signing Joshua Kimmich, current contestants for Denmark and Germany, respectively, at the Under-21 European Championship. A year behind them in age is Gianluca Gaudino. These three have all earned press time in the last year or more, either for debuting for Bayern or (in Kimmich's case) transferring to the Munich giants.

Yet, none of the above are truly "Bayern men" in the mould of Munich native Philipp Lahm. Hojbjerg is Danish and left Brondby for Bayern just before his 17th birthday. Kimmich is from Rottweil and a product of the Stuttgart academy. Gaudino is closer to being a native Bavarian, having moved from Hanau to Munich before his eighth birthday and spent most of his youth at Bayern.

However, as local lads Lahm and Bastian Schweinsteiger grow older, there remains a real hope that they will have a Bavarian successor in central midfield. That hope is 17-year-old Niklas Dorsch.

Born in the Franconian north of Bavaria, Dorsch spent his early years at Nurnberg before transferring to Bayern aged 14. Although he has yet to go mainstream as a name, he began to make waves among followers of German youth football last fall and became an integral part of the under-17 national team as well as Bayern's own under-17s. His club promoted him for one of their under-19 matches in April, in which he featured as a second-half substitute.

Although still very young, Dorsch is likely the most talented player among the ranks of Bayern's youth teams. No other Bayern player in the youth setup was named to any of Germany's youth national teams—under-16 to under-21—for their most recent international matches. Yet Dorsch is a key member of the under-17 side. His injury, sustained in their European Championship opening-day win against Belgium in May, was a hammer blow to Christian Wuck's squad.

The talented Germans responded well to the loss of Dorsch and the German FA's youth team Twitter account (@DFB_Junioren) promoted the #4Dorschi hashtag, a testament to how valued the star midfielder was.

Yet the under-17s would come to miss the influence of Dorsch as a stabilizing force in the center of the park. Although they reached the final, the Germans were simply outclassed by a far quicker and more physical France side that ran out to a 4-1 victory.

A "connecting player," Dorsch is the one that helps move the ball from defense into attack. It's a role he can play from a holding position or forward off the main striker. As pointed out by a profile on the official German FA (DFB) website (in German), Dorsch's style is much like that of Toni Kroos. The two developed a relationship while teammates, and even since Kroos' move to Real Madrid they have remained in touch.

Much to his misfortune, the tibia fracture that prematurely ended Dorsch's European Championship is one that will also see him miss the beginning of preseason. The youngster had previously trained with the senior side, but he may miss out on that opportunity come July and August.

Looking on the horizon, the next major step for Dorsch is the Under-17 World Cup in Chile, for which his teammates managed to qualify during their European Championship campaign. The tournament doesn't begin until mid-October, so Dorsch should have enough time to recover physically and build form. Germany will need the best from him if they are to stand a chance against France and some of the world's other top youth teams.

The Under-17 World Cup is a great opportunity for Dorsch to make a name for himself. If he succeeds, he could well follow in the steps of his idol, Kroos, as well as Hojbjerg and Gaudino in finding his way into the first team at 17. He is, after all, Bayern's great Bavarian hope for now.

Fortunately, he looks to have a very bright future—with all the talent to make him worthy of the title.

@Mr_Bundesliga