Bayern Munich and France center back Dayot Upamecano is garnering a great deal of attention from clubs across Europe’s top five leagues, and he has most recently been linked with a potential move to Real
Madrid this summer. Currently, the French international’s contract with the German Rekordmeister runs through June 2026 and talks between the club and his representatives have stalled due to the wage increase his camp has been asking for. He currently earns roughly 10 million euros gross per year, but his camp has been calling for wages similar to those of Joshua Kimmich, Alphonso Davies, and Jamal Musiala, who all had big contract extensions last season and now all earn anywhere from 15 to 20 million euros gross per year.
Per information from Sport Bild’s Tobi Altschäffl and Heiko Niederrer (via @iMiaSanMia), despite the heavy interest from Real Madrid and other top European clubs, Bayern is remaining confident that can reach an agreement with the player to get a contract extension done. While the club is maintaining this level of confidence, the player himself is more open to taking his time to make a decision and is willing to listen to offers from elsewhere before deciding on his future.
For Bayern, this could wind up being a bit of an issue given that Upamecano could technically sign a pre-agreement to join a club as early as the beginning of January since his contract expires this coming summer. The last thing that Bayern would want, too, is for the center back to leave on a free transfer and have a similar situation to the one they faced with David Alaba’s departure to Real Madrid on their hands.
There is certainly a good mix of incentive and competition for Upamecano. With the evidence on display so far this season, Vincent Kompany’s preferred center back pairing is Upamecano and Jonathan Tah, but Kim Min-jae has strung together a handful of solid performances when he’s been called upon. The South Korean international narrowly avoided a significant injury in the recent 4-1 win over Hoffenheim, but it’s now well known how much Achilles tendon pain he was playing through for large parts of last season and he was also a candidate for potential sale to the Saudi Pro League during the summer transfer window.
Bayern Munich will host Werder Bremen in a Bundesliga match that — on paper — looks a little lopsided.
Okay, a lot lopsided.
The Bavarians are scorching hot and Werder Bremen has a slew of injuries, which makes for what could be a very tough challenge against a Bayern Munich team than can just wear down the opposition.
Let’s get into it — this is what we have on tap for this edition of the Bavarian Podcast Works — Preview Show:
- What to watch for with Werder Bremen. Die Werderaner are banged up, but does still have some talent. Will it be enough to shock Bayern Munich? We doubt it.
- A look at Bayern Munich’s injury situation.
- A guess at Bayern Munich’s starting XI.
- A prediction on the match.
Also, be sure to stay tuned to Bavarian Podcast Works for all of your up to date coverage on Bayern Munich and Germany. Check us out on Patreon and follow us on Twitter @BavarianFBWorks, @BavarianPodcast @TheBarrelBlog, @BFWCyler, @2012nonexistent, @TommyAdams71 and more.
