David Santos: Meet Bayern Munich’s Portuguese breakthrough star | OneFootball

Santos has represented Portugal at various youth levels (Image: Getty Images)

A few days before Christmas, when Bayern Munich closed a highly-impressive first half of the Bundesliga season with a 4-0 win at Heidenheim, the unbeaten German champions issued yet more debuts to teenagers from their famed academy.

One of them was Portugal youth international David Santos, who replaced compatriot Raphaël Guerreiro with a little under 20 minutes remaining. Bayern boss Vincent Kompany has been keen to give youngsters from the club’s ranks their chance, also throwing on defender Cassiano Kiala in stoppage time, with the 16-year-old becoming the second-youngster debutant in the club’s history.

Much of the attention this season regarding youth players has focused on 17-year-old sensation Lennart Karl, who has made a huge impact in both the Bundesliga and the Champions League. In such company, the emergence of Portuguese midfielder Santos is an exciting prospect for followers of the Seleção, especially after some stylish passing on his debut preceded Luis Díaz’s goal to put Bayern 3-0 up at Heidenheim.

Full name David Michael Santos Daiber, the 18-year-old is a defensive midfielder who has been increasingly involved with the first team across 2025. Like Guerreiro, Santos was not born or raised in Portugal. Instead it was Luxembourg where Santos started his journey, before quickly moving as a child to Germany, where he also holds citizenship.

Starting off with small but respected outfit TSV Milbertshofen in a suburb of northern Munich, Santos joined Bayern at the age of nine in 2016. By the 2024-25 season, he moved to the under-19 team, before joining the seniors for the Club World Cup in the United States and then playing in pre-season friendlies, continuing his trajectory within the Bayern ranks.

With regards to Portugal, Santos was a part of the generation which reached the final of the Under-17 European Championship in 2024, where he played five of the six matches. So far, he has earned caps for Portugal at u17, u18 and u19 level – there is little doubt the midfielder has chosen the Seleção for his international ambitions.

So what type of player is Santos? The first thing to mention is that at 1.85m (6’1) with a little time still for further growth, he is a relatively tall midfielder. As well as height, Santos is regarded as having an elegant stride and a range of passing. Having captained teams throughout his development, Santos is considered a potential leader, with the official Bundesliga website comparing him to Germany skipper and Bayern vice-captain Joshua Kimmich.

If those attributes were not enough, a clip from Bayern’s socials posted in April 2025 saw veteran forward and club legend Thomas Mueller commenting on Santos’ speed during a training exercise. With so many attributes, there is little wonder the teenager has been increasingly involved under Kompany in the senior ranks.