Felipe Chávez: Who is Bayern's exciting young Peruvian playmaker?
In Bayern Munich’s friendly match against Red Bull Salzburg on Tuesday, half-time substitute Felipe Chávez, who recently made his international debut for Peru, put in an impressive cameo appearance, registering a goal and an assist. Find out more about the promising youngster below...
Age: 18 (born 10 April 2007)
Club: Bayern Munich
Position: Attacking midfielder
Country: Peru (one senior cap)
Key stats
Born in Aichach to a Peruvian-French father and a German mother, 'Pippo' Chávez switched from the academy of his local side, Augsburg, to that of Bayern in 2019. He made his first appearance for the Munich club’s reserve team in a fourth-tier match against Greuther Fürth II in October 2024. After consistently impressing at that level, the creative midfielder signed a long-term contract the following summer.
His efforts clearly caught the eye of first-team head coach Vincent Kompany, who brought the youngster into his squad for a series of pre-season friendlies in August 2025. In the third of those matches, against Swiss outfit Grasshopper, Chávez was named in the starting XI and played 62 minutes before being replaced by Leon Goretzka.
After making Bayern’s official 2025/26 UEFA Champions League player list, the skilful No.38 was included in a Bundesliga matchday squad for the first time for an away trip to Heidenheim, where the visitors ran out comfortable 4-0 winners.
Although Chávez remained on the bench during that encounter, his beautifully weighted pass that set up Lennart Karl for Bayern’s second goal in their January 2026 friendly with Salzburg – allied to the desire he subsequently showed to slide in and convert Karl’s low cross to make it 3-0 – suggests that his competitive club bow may be just around the corner.
Originally eligible to represent three countries, Chávez switched his international allegiance from Germany to Peru in March 2023, and promptly made two appearances at the South American U-17 Championship. Call-ups to Peru’s U-20 team followed, and his proficient displays resulted in his inclusion in the senior squad for a friendly against Chile on 10 October 2025. In the second half of that 2-1 away defeat, he came off the bench to replace Jairo Concha and make his senior international debut for La Bicolor.
Translation: What a great first of many. We congratulate our players Diego Enríquez, Matías Lazo, Felipe Chávez and Maxloren Castro for their debut with #LaBicolor
Plays a bit like: Andrés D'Alessandro
Technically gifted with an excellent first touch, a low centre of gravity and an ability to produce defence-splitting passes, Chávez has drawn comparisons to another left-footed playmaker, former Wolfsburg man Andrés D'Alessandro.
In front of goal, however, he will doubtless be hoping to emulate an idol of his, a Peruvian who made a huge impact in Munich: the legendary Claudio Pizarro. In fact, Chávez’s admiration for Pizarro is such that he requested the No.14 jersey (the number Pizarro wore for Bayern and Peru) when he recently broke into his country’s international set-up.
Did you know?
Chávez has football in his blood – his uncle Víctor ‘Pilón’ Chávez is the all-time leading goalscorer for Peruvian club Alfonso Ugarte de Chiclín.
What they're saying
“Pippo is a very exciting talent. He racked up a lot of goals and assists for both our U-19s and our reserve team last season, attracting the interest of other clubs. We’re therefore all the more delighted that we were able to convince him to continue his development with us. We believe in his potential.” – Jochen Sauer, Bayern’s Director of Youth Development.
“I’m delighted to have signed a long-term contract and to be able to continue my journey at FC Bayern” – Chávez on his new deal
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