We are well and truly in the middle of the transfer silly season, with rumours a-plenty to sift through and analyse for plausibility and possibility. As one of Europe’s top clubs, Bayern Munich are often involved in one or two of these drawn-out sagas that are revealed to be of little substance in the end. However, this summer there are a lot of hard questions that need answering, and some rumours might end up not being as far-fetched as initially thought.
Last season promised a roar, but ended in a whimper as Bayern Munich crashed out of the Champions League and DFB-Pokal in quick succession. Of course, they won the Bundesliga quite comfortably, but one feels that domestic success has long become of secondary importance behind the holy grail of being crowned Europe’s greatest club, despite what those involved might say. Yes, a run of injuries to key players derailed their campaign, but many felt they still had the quality to compete on all fronts had Pep Guardiola been more conventional in his approach, rather than playing tactically suicidal football at times as we saw in the first-leg Champions League semi-final loss at Barcelona. Despite this, it is clear that some new attacking blood was needed, not necessarily to replace Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery yet, but to make the team stronger when either or both of those two players are out injured.
It is no secret that things started fizzling out when Robben, Bayern’s best performer throughout 2014-15, broke down injured. Next followed Ribery, who was supposed to only be out for a day or two, yet ended up missing the rest of the season. Who was there to take over the mantle in attack? Mario Götze’s struggles have been well documented, Xherdan Shaqiri was allowed to depart for Inter Milan in January for a measly fee, and the likes of Mitchell Weiser and Sinan Kurt were far too inexperienced to become key fixtures for Die Roten. The truth is, Bayern dealt well with their raft of injuries in deeper midfield positions due to their incredible depth, but in more attacking positions they needed more players capable of taking on defenders one-on-one – something that Thomas Müller, for all his qualities, simply cannot offer.
Subsequently, Douglas Costa was purchased from Shakhtar Donetsk for €30 million, which constitutes a massive risk. The Brazilian has no experience in any of Europe’s top five leagues, and showed his quality only in brief flashes in the Champions League. Is he ready to play for a team like Bayern? That remains to be seen. Even after this move was finalized, Die Roten continued being linked with wide attacking midfielders –among them Theo Walcott, who was ruled out as not being of sufficient calibre, and Paul-Georges Ntep, who allegedly had a deal agreed with Bayern, only to have Guardiola veto the transfer.
And now, of course, Angel Di Maria. Numerous reports linked the Manchester United man with a swap deal involving Louis van Gaal’s protégé, Müller, but that can be ruled out completely as a possibility. United are extremely interested in Müller, and have allegedly made a mammoth offer that was rejected out of hand by the powers-that-be at Säbener Straße, but no swap deal was discussed involving those two players. However, BILD ascertained that Manchester United’s Ed Woodward and Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge have been in talks regarding a possible deal involving Di Maria, which would see Bastian Schweinsteiger and Götze head in the opposite direction. The same publication also claimed that although Woodward is not keen to let his Argentine record transfer depart Old Trafford, van Gaal has no such reservations. So, could we actually see such a super-swap happen?
It would depend on a number of factors, most notably whether another interested party, Paris Saint Germain, are willing to come near to matching the fee United paid to sign Di Maria last season, but it makes more sense for both clubs than one might think. Di Maria, despite his struggles in 2014-15, is still a top-class player and would fit very well into Guardiola’s team, addressing any attacking shortcomings they might still have. And, from a Manchester United perspective, Di Maria’s shortcomings over the past six months have been quite similar to that of Götze, with the major positive of landing the German being his young age and potential to grow under van Gaal, a renowned nurturer of talent. Schweinsteiger would provide a massive commercial windfall through reputation alone, and the fact that he is still an excellent midfielder would help United in what very much still is a transitional period immensely. But, as previously noted, for such a deal to actually happen a lot of factors would play a role, even though the fact that there is proof on reliable authority that such negotiations are actually underway makes one really think there is some possibility, however small.
Schweini+Götze for DiMaria: Bayern trade players they don’t need for the one they need, MUFC get 2 world champs: cap’n & decider of WC final
— Clark Whitney (@Mr_Bundesliga) July 8, 2015
Bastian Schweinsteiger’s current situation in its entirety is intriguing. The Germany Captain has a year to run on his contract, and neither he nor the club are ready to blink yet in what has been an odd stand-off. It is clear that Schweinsteiger does not fit into Guardiola’s midfield plans, and that he would more likely than not find himself on the bench if Die Roten were at full strength. Add to that recent comments by Rummenigge claiming that Schweinsteiger is “flattered” by interest from Manchester, it is not inconceivable to see the World Cup winner leaving the club. Rummenigge and Schweinsteiger are reportedly set to hold crunch talks regarding his future on Saturday, to ascertain whether he will stay until his contract expires in 2016 to pursue the honour of an unprecedented fourth consecutive Bundesliga title, departing into the sunset of free-agency, or whether he will join United during this summer window.
Or, unlikely as it seems, whether Bayern will blink first and offer him a new contract. Whatever the case may be, the club has been very careful to not be perceived as forcing a club legend out, risking the ire of the fans, by continually stating that the ball is in Schweinsteiger’s court. However, if L’Equipe is to be believed, Juventus have rejected a €15 million offer from Bayern for highly-rated young midfielder Kingsley Coman. With young starlet Gianluca Gaudino, the exciting Pierre-Emile Højbjerg and new arrival Joshua Kimmich already set to feature in Guardiola’s plans, the pursuit of another midfielder can only mean one thing – that Bayern will definitely not be offering Schweinsteiger a new deal, and neither, for that matter, Xabi Alonso.
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Finally, defender Mehdi Benatia has also raised some questions about his own future. When asked about reported interest from Italy, the Moroccan refused to rule out a move, claiming that his goal for the season is to play upwards of “35 to 40 games” during the season, as told to Tuttosport, and that he would strongly consider leaving the club were that not to happen. Of course it is too soon to make too much of this comment, but it could become more relevant as the season progresses, particularly if Holger Badstuber can retain his fitness and stay injury-free for an extended period of time. All the Bayern centre-backs are realistically competing for only one starting spot, for the form of Jerome Boateng has made him indispensible to the team. And given Guardiola’s love of playing the likes of David Alaba and Rafinha at the back even when making use of a three-man defence, plus Javi Martinez returning to fitness, we could well see Benatia playing less than he would ideally have hoped.
What is left of this transfer window promises to be extremely interesting for all involved at Bayern Munich, and you can be sure that the rumour mill will continue churning out stories at a haemorrhaging rate.
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