Vincent Kompany gives Hiroki Ito little playing time at FC Bayern
Coach Vincent Kompany rotates at FC Bayern quite actively, but for the 27‑year‑old defender Hiroki Ito he seems to have no use any longer – the Japanese player is counted among the big losers of the start of the season and could leave the club already in the winter.
A quick look at the national team
During the now concluded international break, Ito served as a welcome change. He played all four matches of the Japanese national team, three of them in the starting eleven, and scored a goal in the penalty shoot‑out in the semi‑final of the Kirin Cup against Ecuador. In the final against New Zealand he also played the whole match, totalling 288 minutes of action.
Limited appearances in Munich
By comparison, his record at FC Bayern after seven league matches amounts to just ten minutes, which he received as a substitute in the Champions League defeat to FK Bodø/Glimt, when the result was already decided. In central defence Dayot Upamecano, Jonathan Tah and Min‑Jae Kim rotate, while Kompany on the left prefers to use Alphonso Davies, newcomer Nathaniel Brown or Josip Stanisic.
Transfer history and injuries
Ito moved in 2024 for the fixed transfer fee of €23.5 million from VfB Stuttgart to FC Bayern. Two mid‑foot fractures kept him out for almost a year and a half; he returned in November and was celebrated as an “internal newcomer”. In the rest of the season he featured regularly – 23 league matches, sometimes on the left, sometimes centrally – and started five of the last six Bundesliga games.
Future prospects
His future has been in doubt since the summer, even though his contract runs until 2028. Sports director Max Eberl expressed openness to a sale in July, while sporting director Christoph Freund stressed that a departure had never been the main goal. Shortly before the end of the transfer window a possible move to Ajax Amsterdam was discussed, but it did not materialise. Without injuries to rivals, FC Bayern is likely to work intensively in the winter to secure a sale of Ito.