Bayern Munich's teenaged defender Lukas Mai has revealed how interim coach Hansi Flick is helping him realise his objective of cracking the first team.

Mai, 19, made his Bundesliga debut under the now retired Jupp Heynckes towards the end of 2017/18, playing 90 minutes in victories over Hannover and Eintracht Frankfurt, but hasn't featured for the senior side since.

That said, he did make the bench 14 times during the first half of the campaign, including for five of Flick's first seven Bundesliga matches at the helm, and recently signed a contract extension to stay with the record champions until summer 2022.

"I've got a really good rapport with Hansi Flick," Mai told SportBild. "He talks to us a lot, gives me a lot of tips and helps me to always get the best out of myself."

Mai is a regular on the training pitches at Säbener Straße, despite making all 17 of his appearances so far this season in the Third Division with the Bayern reserves. The Germany U20 international was instrumental in their promotion from the Regionalliga and, having climbed the youth ranks since joining the club from Dresden as a 15-year-old, is optimistic his time with the senior squad will come.

"I'm trying every day to give my best in training, and learn from all the experienced players around me," Mai explained. "Since making my debut under Jupp Heynckes, it's long been my goal to play as many games as possible for the first team and win titles. There's no better place for me to be than at Bayern."

Likened to Bayern teammate Niklas Süle, Mai (c.) has 180 minutes of Bundesliga action under his belt. - imago

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With 2018 FIFA World Cup winner Lucas Hernandez, Germany's Niklas Süle and defensive specialist Javi Martinez all in the treatment room, Mai could get the chance to add to his brace of top-flight outings sooner rather than later.

Jerome Boateng and Benjamin Pavard are the only out-and-out central defenders currently at Flick's disposal, though David Alaba has impressed in the role since switching inside from his favourite position on the left-hand side.

"Lukas was still eligible for the U19s last season, but we deliberately promoted him to the reserves and to first-team training so he could prove himself with the big boys," said Bayern academy chief, Jochen Sauer. "Now we're hoping to see him get some minutes under Flick."

Mai is expected to be included in the matchday squad when Bayern resume their title defence with a trip to Hertha Berlin on 19 January. The defending champions are four points behind leaders RB Leipzig in third at the halfway stage.

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