BAYERN MUNICH
Bayern Munich’s pursuit of a centre-back is a very complicated story! Eric Dier was really close to joining the club this summer, but I heard his side wanted a long-term contract and Bayern refused saying, ‘no, that’s too long’. Now, Bayern Munich pursued Ronald Araujo of FC Barcelona, there was a lot of video chat and talks, with the player one day saying, ‘yes’ and the next day ‘no’. At the end of it all, Barcelona said, ‘not this winter’. The Uruguayan was the No.1 target for Bayern and then after that they had to go down the list for the plan B. On this plan B was, indeed, Eric Dier. At the end of last week, the management and Bayern were very clear over the contract. However, the transfer took some time.
One transfer they pushed for was Radu Dragusin. Bayern tried to hitchhike Tottenham’s deal on Tuesday night. There was a moment where the player said, ‘yes’ but next morning the player said ‘no’, so Bayern had to go out and look for a new player. There was also a call to Kevin Danso’s (who previously played for FC Augsburg but now plays for Lens) management – he is interested but PSG is also interested. It’s currently unclear whether he wants to go somewhere else this winter. If he went to Paris, Bayern Munich then has a big chance to get Nordi Mukiele, the former Leipzig player. There are already talks and he would be perfect for Bayern because he can play centre-back and right-back. He was a little higher on the list compared to Eric Dier. But if PSG doesn’t have a substitute for him, they won’t let him go, as Achraf Hakimi is playing in his position and is currently away at AFCON. So it’s unclear.
Eric Dier landed in Munich yesterday for a medical check. Tuchel likes the player very much because he can play right-back, centre-back and as a holding six. The plan is that he can play immediately at right-back as Noussair Mazraoui is at the AFCON. It’s also good for Tuchel as Joao Palhinha isn’t an option for Bayern this winter. €60m is too expensive for them. They would have done it in the summer with the fresh money from Liverpool for Ryan Gravenberch, but now they need the money for the centre-back position.
Reinforcing the midfield is not the focus at the moment for Bayern amid their ongoing need for a defensive signing. Despite that, I have read that there were rumours from England that Jordan Henderson and Bayern could be a potential match as he’s allegedly not particularly happy in Saudi Arabia. I heard from Bayern Munich that there are no talks and no interest in the former Liverpool captain.
I think there are just a few clubs in the Premier League ‘Big Six’ who can compare with Bayern Munich when it comes to money and sporting targets. That’s why Bayern is so proud that things worked out with Harry Kane, as it’s a signal to everyone that if Bayern Munich wants a player, they can even get a Premier League superstar. I think that counts for any league; for instance, Ronald Araujo would be interested in joining Bayern. I don’t think there are many clubs where Bayern would have no chance. In this case, it’s just a question of money. We’ve all seen this when someone like Manchester City are at the table. Against any other club, Bayern had a realistic chance of signing Erling Haaland, but then City can pay a lot more when it comes to salary. Bayern can’t because of the financial structure in place; it’s a very important factor in how they’re run.
The talks with Alphonso Davies are not very far along at the moment. I’ve mentioned before that at the beginning of the prior summer window there was an agreement in place for €12m-a-year – but then the man behind it, Hasan Salihamidžić, was fired. Now, there is an open window because of the new sporting director, Christoph Freund, and the player’s camp is using this to get more time. David Alaba and Davies are obviously good friends and the former is of course speaking of how great Real Madrid is. Don’t forget that Madrid can also pay a big salary! I think there’s a big chance for Real Madrid at the moment. Also, Davies is not doing so well at Bayern Munich, so they won’t pay any crazy money for him because they’re not confident in his performance levels at the moment. There may be a goodbye for Davies this summer but he’s not signed anything yet with either party, so we have to wait.
