Coman calls time on remarkable Bayern career

Few could have predicted the success Coman would have in Bavaria when he joined the club as a 19-year-old from Juventus in 2015, initially on a two-year loan deal. He had already won his first three domestic titles by that point – an impressive feat on its own – but that was merely a portent of what was to come in Munich.

Despite competing with Franck Ribéry, Arjen Robben and Douglas Costa for a place in Pep Guardiola’s star-studded side, Coman started 29 of his 35 appearances for Bayern in his debut season, registering six goals and 12 assists in all competitions to help them win their – and his – fourth successive league title.

A troublesome ankle injury threatened to derail his progress the following season, but the Bayern hierarchy had already seen enough, handing Coman a contract through to 2020 at the end of the 2016/17 campaign.

Watch: The best of Kingsley Coman

“Kingsley Coman is an important building block for the future of our team, so we decided to take the option,” former Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said at the time. “Kingsley is a promising player with great potential. We’re convinced he will help us in the coming years.”

An understatement, if ever there was one.

A fresh ankle issue forced him to miss the final months of the 2017/18 campaign as Bayern got their hands on yet another Meisterschale, only to lose to Eintracht Frankfurt in the DFB Cup final and Real Madrid in the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League.

Had Coman been fit, it might have been a different story. The Frenchman – who by now had replaced Ribéry as Bayern’s first-choice left winger – was rapidly blossoming into a man for the big occasion, displaying an incredible knack for scoring key goals at crucial moments in the years that followed.

He reached double figures for the first time as a Bayern player in 2018/19, but his most important of the lot came on the final day of the campaign. Needing victory at Frankurt to keep closest pursuers Borussia Dortmund at arm’s length, Coman settled the visitors’ nerves with a well-taken fourth-minute opener, setting them on their way to an eventual 5-1 win – and a seventh league crown in succession.

Coman also netted Bayern’s crucial second goal in a 3-0 DFB Cup final win over RB Leipzig, but his most telling contribution in a red shirt came in the final game of a remarkable 2019/20 campaign.

Having already secured a domestic league and cup double, Hansi Flick’s team travelled to Lisbon for the 2020 UEFA Champions League final hoping to wrap up a historic treble. There was little sign of a breakthrough against the Paris Saint-Germain until Coman met Thiago Alcântara’s cross at the back post 14 minutes into the second half.

Coman’s header proved to be the match-winner, elevating him alongside the likes of Bayern greats Oliver Kahn – Bayern’s hero in the 2001 final – and Robben, who netted a famous winner over Dortmund in the 2013 showpiece at Wembley Stadium.

Bayern have been spoilt for choice in the wing department in recent years, with Serge Gnabry, Leroy Sané and latterly Michael Olise all making valuable contributions to the Bavarians’ success. Despite the stiff competition, Coman has continued to deliver on a consistent basis, registering 39 goals and 36 assists in 177 appearances since that famous night in Lisbon.

His astonishing record run of 11 successive league titles – including eight with Bayern – was only brought to an end by Xabi Alonso’s remarkable Leverkusen side in 2023/24, but the Frenchman helped the Bavarians reclaim their domestic crown last term, racking up 15 goal involvements in 45 outings in all competitions.

All told, Coman accrued 20 trophies in his decade in Munich, having lifted three DFB Cups, six DFL Supercups and a FIFA Club World Cup on top of his nine Meisterschalen and solitary Champions League crown.

An "important building block for the future" in 2017, Coman leaves Bayern with his status as one of the club's most successful players firmly secured.

"We'd like to thank Kingsley Coman from the bottom of our hearts for a uniquely successful time together," said Bayern board member for sport Max Eberl.

"King will always be part of FC Bayern, and we wish him all the best for his new challenge."