From benchwarmer to key Bundesliga player, when this SBOTOP scribe was asked who deserves a bigger role next season, the answer didn’t take too long to find.
Granted, my choice of player wasn’t exactly a benchwarmer, and, given the strength of the team he represents, fresh from a dominant Bundesliga success, the Bundesliga 2025 betting odds will likely back them to triumph next term, regardless of whether he is a regular starter.
But let me put forward my case for Serge Gnabry, who was only involved in half of the 34 league matches for Bayern Munich last term.
Of the 145 goals scored by players who started matches in Germany’s top-flight on the bench, Gnabry was the most prolific, striking five of his seven efforts for the season as a replacement as he delivered some of the Bavarians’ Bundesliga 2025 highlights.
A number of players have been linked with a move away from Bayern this summer, including Gnabry, although it now appears the 29-year-old will remain at the club beyond the summer.
According to Kicker, Bayern’s board member for sport, Max Eberl, has personally informed Gnabry that the club will not be looking to sell him.
That should please all of their fans, for he has an important role to play and, arguably, deserves more starts.
In the 306 games played during the 2024/25 Bundesliga campaign, 959 goals were scored. While that was 26 fewer than the previous term, it was the seventh season in a row that there have been more than three goals per game on average (3.1) – between 1988 and 2018, there were only two campaigns that reached the three-goals-per-game mark.
Unsurprisingly, games involving Bayern Munich were the most lucrative last season, with 131 goals – the champions struck 99 times themselves.
Coaches were able to make a combined total of 3,060 substitutions, with a record 2,796 (since available substitutions increased from three to five) ultimately being used.
I think we can all agree that, as subs go, Gnabry is a luxury.
With his current deal set to expire in 2026, Bayern may look to extend his contract soon to avoid the risk of losing him on a free transfer.
He is too good for the bench and has been for some time.
I can remember one game when he was sensational, back in North London against the arch rivals of his old stomping ground.
On that occasion, in 2019, Gnabry became the most unlikely hero of all when the player, once not considered good enough for West Brom, helped Bayern to a 7-2 Champions League victory at Spurs – an incredible night for the former Arsenal man and flawless Bayern.
At the time of writing this, Bayern are still in action at the World Club Championship while others are on the beach and that may cause fatigue at some point next term.
Yet they should still have far too much domestically – remember last season’s runners-up Bayer Leverkusen have already lost three of their main men – while the best side in Germany strengthened even further.
Gnabry is a keen part of that and should remain so.
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