Arsenal transfer audition ready as German ‘gem’ breaks ANOTHER record – ‘Extraordinary stuff’

Lennart Karl’s star continues to shine, as the Bayern Munich teenager once again justified why Arsenal manager Andrea Berta and Mikel Arteta are keen on bringing him to the Emirates Stadium.

Karl is enjoying a breakthrough season at Bayern Munich, with the defending Bundesliga champions’ manager, Vincent Kompany, using him once at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup in the summer and then making him a regular in the first team for the 2025/26 campaign.

The Germany Under-21 international, who is able to play as a right-winger or attacking midfielder, has scored one goal in two Champions League appearances.

Karl has also scored two goals and registered two assists in nine Bundesliga matches for Bayern so far this season, with Arsenal among the clubs having taken a shine to him.

CaughtOffSide reported in October that Arsenal had scouts watching Karl in action for Bayern against Club Brugge in the Champions League, with German publication Bild subsequently reporting interest in the 17-year-old from Gunners manager Mikel Arteta and sporting director Andrea Berta.

Karl made history with Bayern in that game on October 22, as the rising German star became the club’s youngest scorer in Champions League history with his goal in the 4-0 victory at the Allianz Arena in Munich.

On Saturday, Karl set yet another record for Bayern, who came from two goals down to beat Freiburg 6-2 at the Allianz Arena in the Bundesliga.

It was Karl who kick-started Bayern’s comeback in the 22^nd minute when he controlled Michale Olise’s pass and fired past Noah Atubolu.

The teenager, who was deployed as the playmaker-in-chief in a 4-2-3-1 formation, provided the assist for Olise’s equalising goal on the stroke of half-time.

That assist saw Karl become the youngest player in Bayern’s history – aged just 17 years and 273 days – to score and set up a goal in a single Bundesliga game.

Bild journalist Christian Falk was hugely impressed with Karl, and while giving him 9 out of 10 in his Player Ratings on CFBayernInsider, he noted: ‘The youngster is a gem.

‘For a while, let us not focus on his contract situation. It is a pleasure to watch him play and do extraordinary stuff on the pitch.’

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Lennart Karl ready for Arsenal audition as Bayern exit stance emerges

Arsenal will be able to get a closer look at Karl when the Gunners take on Bayern at the Emirates Stadium in the Champions League on Wednesday evening.

While the teenager suffered a hip injury against Freiburg, he has said that he will recover in time to start for Bayern against Arsenal, should Kompany decide to include him in the first XI.

Karl said, as quoted in BuliNews: “It should not be anything serious – I got a knock on the hip in training yesterday and I just felt it a lot after another one in the game, that’s all.”

While Arsenal fans would not want Karl to be at his best, the Emirates Stadium faithful will be encouraged to know that the Bayern star is a huge fan of Martin Odegaard.

In April 2025, during an interview with Bayern’s official website, Karl was asked about his footballing role model.

The teenager replied: “Yes, Martin Odegaard. He’s also a left-footer, plays in the playmaker position, has good vision and a good shot.

“He also caught the eye of a big club [Real Madrid] early on and ultimately developed into a world-class player over several loan spells.

“He’s shown that patience and mentality are just as important as talent.

“But I really want to establish myself here at Bayern and one day play for the club in the Champions League.”

However, it may not be easy for Arsenal to sign Karl from Bayern, with Kompany tating him highly and the Bavarian giants also determined to keep him.

After the match against Freiburg, Kompany said, as quoted on ESPN: “Lenny … It’s always so difficult. When you score six goals, there’s a lot of players who participated.

“For sure, the most important action they had was when we scored the 2-1. They created this phase. There was a lot of quality. Not many players can do it, but this gave us the momentum back. And then everything that happened after was the good performance of many players.”

Falk wrote about Karl’s future on his website on November 21: ‘It is NOT TRUE: Bayern are in negotiations with Lennart Karl’s agent, Michael Ballack, over a new contract. 

‘It’s not true that there are negotiations, but the good news for Bayern fans is that he already signed a contract back in August until 2028.

‘There are plenty of clauses in this contract which allow him to earn more money the better he plays.

‘He’s also turning 18 in February, and we heard that when this happens, the contract has a clause to automatically extend without further negotiations.

‘But, of course, the thinking in the club is that if he’s doing so well at the moment, perhaps he’ll get some add-ons as well beyond what’s in the contract.

‘This is in discussion, but not really official negotiations just yet.

‘Uli Hoeness talked today about Lennart Karl, and he said they’re very, very happy about this player, that he’s doing so well.

‘But the hype is enormous, and everyone should calm down a little bit. He’s played a little now in the Bundesliga and Champions League, and now everyone wants him in the national team!

‘However, if you’ve seen the teenager in the U21s, he played very well yet again and scored twice.

‘So, you see, he is heading towards a potential big contract at Bayern, and a big future ahead.’

Latest Arsenal transfer news: Chelsea ahead, Nottingham Forest raid

Meanwhile, Chelsea are ahead of Arsenal in the race for a top striker target and have made contact for him.

A Borussia Dortmund star is ready to snub the chance to join Manchester United, allowing Arsenal the chance to make a swoop for him.

And finally, Arsenal are keen on a Nottingham Forest star, who starred against defending Premier League champions Liverpool at the weekend.