Where does Jamal Musiala rank in the pantheon of Bayern’s great number 10s?
The number 10 jersey has become synonymous in football with some of the world’s most creative and talented players and Jamal Musiala will become the latest mercurial talent to wear the shirt for Bayern Munich this season. To mark the news, bundesliga.com takes a look at some of Bayern’s most iconic number 10s.
Prior to agreeing to a move to Galatasaray, Leroy Sané was Bayern's last No.10, before the Bundesliga giants announced Musiala would slip seamlessly into the shirt. The young Germany international now joins a list of illustrious names to have worn Bayern's 10, including the likes of Uli Hoeneß, Lothar Matthäus and Arjen Robben, among others ...
Sané
When Sané announced that he would be leaving Bayern earlier this month, the club's fans will have taken a moment to bid a fond farewell. The German’s numbers for the last campaign were the best of his career so far as he bagged 11 Bundesliga goals and provided five assists down the flanks under the admiring eye of coach Vincent Kompany. Sané completed his time at the German giants at the end of June after helping the club reach the Club World Cup quarter-final. The following day, Musiala was immediately announced as Sané’s successor as Bayern’s number 10.
Sané had previously had the shirt since 2019, when he returned to Germany after a successful spell in England with Manchester City. During his time with Bayern, Sané played 223 competitive matches, scoring 61 goals and providing 55 assists and winning four Bundesliga titles, among other honours.
Watch: The best of Leroy Sané
Although not a number 10 in the traditional sense, the Dutchman is the player to have worn the shirt for the longest period at Bayern, having donned it for 10 years between 2009 and 2019. In that time, Robben was at his unplayable best. Defenders knew what he wanted to do and yet remained powerless to stop him.
During his time in Germany, ‘the Flying Dutchman’ hammered home 99 Bundesliga goals and provided 70 assists as he won the Meisterschale eight times. More iconically, though, Robben scored the winner in the all-German UEFA Champions League final against Borussia Dortmund in 2013; just one year after missing a decisive spot kick in Bayern’s ‘home’ final against Chelsea.
With his partner in crime Franck Ribéry, he and Robben created the iconic duo known as Robbery, arguably the most formidable wing partnership the Bundesliga has ever seen.
Watch: The top 5 Robbery goals
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Despite often playing as a libero, Matthäus was the first Bayern player to officially be given the number 10 as a squad number, and he made it his own during his time at the club. Matthäus played for Bayern during two separate spells, once between 1984 and 1988 and then between 1992 and 2000.
During this time, he won seven Bundesliga titles and was an integral part of the side that won the UEFA Cup in 1996. He also captained both Bayern and Germany on numerous occasions and even lifted the FIFA World Cup as West Germany captain in 1990.
He also won Germany’s footballer of the year award on two occasions, as well as World Footballer of the Year in 1990 and 1991. In total, Germany’s most capped player played 302 Bundesliga matches for Bayern, scoring 85 goals.
Roy Maakay
The Dutchman is another player to have worn Bayern’s number 10 who isn’t reminiscent of a typical playmaker. Instead, Maakay was an instinctive striker who scored a hatful of goals for the record German champions. In his 183 appearances, the Dutch centre-forward scored a remarkable 103 goals, including the Champions League’s fastest-ever goal. This came in Bayern’s round of 16 second leg against Real Madrid, where Maakay scored after just 10.12 seconds.
Like Matthäus, Effenberg also had two separate spells at Bayern, and whereas Effenberg wore the number 10 shirt during his first spell with the club, it was his second spell that immortalised him as a Bayern legend. Nicknamed ‘The Boss’, Effenberg’s second spell with Bayern between 1998 and 2002 saw him win three Bundesliga titles, one German Cup and a Champions League. Effenberg played 160 matches for FC Bayern, scoring 35 goals.
Rummenigge was another player to only briefly wear the number 10 shirt at Bayern, but yet another player considered to be a club legend. Up until the 95/96 season, shirt numbers were handed to players based on their positions, and players didn’t have official squad numbers.
Rummenigge played more traditionally as a striker, so he only wore the shirt for the 75/76 season, his second season for the club. In his time at the club, the pacey striker scored 217 goals in 422 games. A total that puts him fourth in Bayern’s all-time top scorers list.
He also won two European Cups and two Bundesliga titles, as well as being named the European Footballer of the Year in 1980 and 1981. After ending his playing career, Rummenigge became important to the club at a management level. From 2002 until 2021, he was the club’s CEO. Internationally, Rummenigge also won the European Championship in 1980.
Perhaps the most unique name on this list, Breitner largely wore the number 10 shirt whilst playing as a left-back during the 73/74 season. Although to describe Breitner as a left-back in the traditional sense would be a stretch, as he regularly popped up all over the pitch.
Later in his career, Breitner played as a midfielder. During his time at Bayern, Breitner won the European Cup in 1974 before moving to Spain to join Real Madrid. He would later return to Bayern in 1978, where he won his fourth and fifth Bundesliga titles, along with his second German Cup.
Ciriaco Sforza
Although Sforza wore the shirt sporadically in European fixtures during his first spell at the club in 95/96, the Swiss international inherited the shirt permanently when he rejoined Bayern from Kaiserslautern for the second time in his career ahead of the 00/01 season.
After a disappointing first spell with Bayern, Sforza had once more rebuilt his reputation with Kaiserslautern before being given a second chance with the Bavarians. Unfortunately for Sforza, his second spell at Bayern was equally unremarkable, and he once again returned to Kaiserslautern after two seasons.
Despite only managing 3 goals in 101 appearances, Sforza still won considerable silverware at Bayern, even if he was not an integral part of the team. In his first spell at the club, Bayern won the old Europa League and in his second spell, he won both the Bundesliga title and the Champions League.
Coutinho arrived at Bayern with a big reputation, but at something of a low point in his career after a failed mega-money move to Barcelona. The Brazilian magician spent just the one season in Bavaria, but during that time, he managed to recapture some of that form that had turned him into one of the world’s best players at Liverpool.
Despite the pressure of inheriting Arjen Robben’s number 10 shirt, Coutinho went on to score eight goals and provide six assists in 23 Bundesliga appearances as Bayern stormed to an eighth straight league title as part of an incredible treble. This included a hat-trick and two assists in a 6-1 win against Werder Bremen.
Unfortunately for Coutinho, injury curtailed his involvement in the latter stages of the season, but he did return to feature in Bayern's charge to UEFA Champions League glory, before ending his loan in Bavaria and returning to Barcelona.
Bayern’s history of iconic number 10s arguably began with Uli Hoeneß, who wore the fabled shirt between 1971 and 1976 and then once more for the 77/78 Bundesliga season. Hoeneß frequently donned the 10 shirt as he was Bayern’s primary second striker during a period of unparalleled success for the Bavarian giants. During his time at the club, the European Championship and World Cup winner was part of the great team that won three European Cups on the bounce between 1973 and 1976. The side also won three Bundesliga titles between 1971 and 1974. Although Gerd Müller was the team’s prolific goalscorer, Hoeneß provided plenty himself, both from the centre of the pitch and out wide, notching 86 goals in 239 Bundesliga appearances before retiring at just 27 due to a significant injury. He then took up a management position in the club and later, in 2009, he became the club’s President, a role he still holds as an honorary title.
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