Have you got colour in your cheeks?
D’you ever get that fear that you can’t shift the type,
That sticks around like summat’s in your teeth?
Are there some aces up your sleeve?
Bayern Munich are steamrolling
through Europe at the moment, the only team to be unbeaten in all competitions in the top 5 leagues while also maintaining a 100% winning record. However, even in this early stage of the season, the squad’s depth has been severely challenged. Bayern came into the season with Jamal Musiala, Alphonso Davies and Hiroki Itō all already on the sidelines and expected to miss the first half of the season, and when combined with the smaller wear-and-tear injuries that Bayern tend to accumulate almost every week, these absences has been felt massively, with players being shuffled into positions undreamt of to paper over the cracks.
Crawlin’ back to you,
Ever thought of callin’ when,
You’ve had a few?
‘Cause I always do.
With the return of most of the squad in sight though, it begs the question: How good can this team really get when firing on all cylinders?
We are not here to answer that question.
We are here to figure out how the team can continue to build upon the foundations that have been set with this unit, all within a tight financial limit to let Bayern build up those reserves while they can, because I truly do believe that with the current squad, this next summer window does not require game-changing money to be spent, but rather it requires shrewd expenditure to fill the gaps. Let’s take a look at the candidates.
A silver lining, lone ranger riding through an open space: The first line of build-up
I guess what I’m tryna say is, I need the deep end, keep imagining meeting,
Wished away entire lifetimes, unfair we’re not somewhere misbehaving for days.
When it comes to the centre-back situation, I have mixed feelings about the situation as a whole. While I recognise that Min-jae Kim hasn’t shown his full potential at Bayern and has struggled to stay fit and reliable for a whole season, I think Bayern would be uncharacteristically impatient if they were to let him go. With that in mind, this section will involve figuring out a fourth centre-back option for Bayern.
The qualities we are looking for in-possession are simple: The player must be capable of being part of that first line of three in build-up, preferably on the left side of the three. Being comfortable carrying into the second line is not a requiement but would be a more than welcome bonus, allowing Vincent Kompany to experiment more with letting the centre-backs carry into the opposition block which would cause chaos amongst markers and pressers, especially in the 4-4-2 low block that has become so common against this Bayern side, one which elects to let the Bayern centre-backs keep the ball with the idea that they would prefer to release the ball rather than hold onto it.
In terms of qualities out-of-possession, while it seemed like speed was essential, Jonathan Tah and Eric Dier’s relatively stable performances at Bayern so far have proven that, with time given to adapt and smart positioning, defects in pace are not a deal-breaker. Rather, their capabilities in the air and ability to shrug opposition attackers off the ball with their strength are far more important.
With this in mind, it’s no surprise that Bayern have been in contact with Crystal Palace’s Marc Guéhi and Borussia Dortmund’s Nico Schlotterbeck (who I wanted at Bayern back in 2022). I would welcome either and even both at the expense of one of our current centre-backs (minus Dayot Upamecano), but I’m not just here to regurgitate what’s been said in the dirt-sheets.
Guéhi’s availability as a free agent has caused a massive stir in the transfer market as all the big clubs in Europe have begun preparing their offers for one of the most promising and in-form centre-backs in the world, but there is sneakily a very big market right underneath these reports for centre-backs with contracts expiring next summer. For example, AFC Bournemouth’s Marcos Senesi is an unbelievably good ball-player, being comfortable passing from the back as well as playing inside an opposition’s block which is so unusual for a player plying his trade in a Premier League team outside of the traditional ‘big six’. He should be a real option for Bayern, although his lack of experience at a top level may prove a demerit as he is already 28 and less malleable.
Manchester City’s John Stones is the defining Pep Guardiola centre-back. Now aged 31, his future is very open with his contract ending in 2026, and I think Bayern should be first in line to snap him up. This inclusion is one I have to admit is fuelled heavily by bias, as Stones is my favourite centre-back of all time for the way he revolutionised centre-back play in the modern day, bringing the libero back in fashion. I think his ball-carrying ability is exactly the X-Factor Kompany’s backline needs right now, as well as the fact that he is unbelievably consistent and solid defensively, both positionally as well as technically. The only caveat is that he is quite injury prone and now that he is past his physical prime, those problems could only get worse. Combine that with Bayern’s luck with injuries, and things could get heavy. That leads me to my actual pick.
Another disciple of Pep Guardiola, Eric García is a La Masia product who was poached by Guardiola at Manchester City and spent key years of his development there before returning to Barcelona. However, he struggled to make an impact, eventually being loaned back to the City Group, although this time it was to fellow La Liga outfit Girona FC. This loan spell changed everything for García, as he finally had been given the responsibility he so craved to showcase his abilities, fluidly shifting between full-back, centre-back and defensive midfield mid-game in Girona’s liquid structure, demonstrating his versatility and technical prowess, ultimately landing him a far bigger role at his home club upon his return. García is 24, still malleable, still getting better, and is a massive market opportunity with his contract expiring in the summer.
The prospect of García bringing his Guardiolan build-up principles to the squad while maximising his defensive abilities under Kompany and Tah is a tantalising prospect, combined with his usefulness to any squad with the versatility he brings with the ability to play centre-back, left-back, right-back and midfield comfortably. For what it’s worth, he positionally fits the team like a glove too, being very comfortable in Kompany’s aggressive counter-press, frequently following markers into their own half or even their own box to maintain man-to-man equilibrium at the expense of structure.
When the zeroes line up on the 24-hour clock: Covering the wide areas
Call off the search for your soul, or put it on hold again,
She’s havin’ a sly indoor smoke, and she calls the folks who run this her oldest friends.
Bayern have a massive full-back problem. Alphonso Davies and Konrad Laimer are undoubtedly world-class players in their respective positions, but beyond Josip Stanišić, the depth options are scarce. Raphaël Guerreiro is expected to leave the club at the expiry of his contract after a fairly uneventful spell at the club, one which say his physicals decline to the point where he became a defensive liability. Sacha Boey has been a non-starter at Bayern, spending his first half-season entirely injured, and only enjoying a brief spell of good form when Kompany first joined before multiple injury setbacks in a row have left him dulled and mistake-prone; not good enough for the level this team wants to operate at. Hiroki Itō has also spent his entire 16 months at Bayern so far on the sidelines, only briefly playing in spring before re-aggravating his injury, and it is unknown what level he will be at upon his return. Beyond that, he will also be required at centre-back because injuries will most definitely occur at some point and require cover, even with four centre-backs in the squad.
Being defensively prodigious isn’t a requirement for this position, we are far more interested in how they affect the game when Bayern have the ball. It needs to be a player comfortable going both on the inside and the outside of the winger, and bonus points if they are capable of playing on either side, although once again, it’s not a dealbreaker if they aren’t capable.
A nice warm-up pick to explain the principles of this section is Eintracht Frankfurt’s Rasmus Kristensen. The Danish full-back is a fantastic offensive option down the right, being great at running in the channels but especially good on the touchline, offering an option for the outswinging cross from the right which Bayern have struggled to create as of late, with Michael Olise preferring to use his left and Joshua Kimmich not getting the space to give himself the angle. Crossing is a notable weakness of Laimer and Boey’s games, which they make up for with their preference for cut-backs on the underlap, something Kristensen is equally capable of. Overall, this would be a fantastic creative upgrade upon Laimer, although I don’t think Kristensen brings the industriousness and engine of Laimer, and that’s a key part of why the current Bayern system works, even if Kristensen’s defensive statistics aren’t bad (at the end of the day, numbers aren’t everything). Transfermarkt values Kristensen at €14m, so he wouldn’t be a bad deal, but certainly not the best we can do.
A better option could be Bayer Leverkusen’s Alejandro Grimaldo, who might not seem a realistic option, until you realise that his contract expires in 2027, meaning Leverkusen may be forced to cash in on him in 2026 if Grimaldo is adamant on leaving. Grimaldo may be even better than Davies for Bayern in-possession, with his ability to drift into spaces both wide and centrally lends itself perfectly to Kompany’s system, combined with that left foot which switches between feeling like a cannon and a wand depending on what day it is. Much like Kristensen though, Grimaldo is just not at the level we’d like physically, being far weaker in the tackle and slower to cover ground than Davies, so despite how tempting the idea of Grimaldo for a fee of €25-30m is, I think it’s a stone better left unturned.
A player that perfectly embodies the versatility we’re looking for is Juventus’ Andrea Cambiaso. The Italian full-back-turned-wing-back is a truly two-footed build-up player, a rarity in the modern game where two-footed players are often shoved into more offensive positions. Cambiaso was born and bred in Italian systems as a midfielder, and so not only does he possess this incredible two-footed ability, he is also very familiar with keeping and rotating the ball in a quick and concise manner. It’s no wonder Manchester City were interested in him a while ago. His two-footedness means that he can, of course, play on either side of the pitch, although he does have a slight bias towards the left. However, I still think we can do better. Cambiaso is Italian, meaning he would be culturally and linguistically isolated, and while it may have worked out with Bayern for Luis Díaz, I don’t think it’s a risk I’d be willing to take again on a young player like Cambiaso who isn’t self-sufficient yet. Furthermore, much like Kristensen and Grimaldo, he just doesn’t have the physicals Kompany requires from his full-backs, and would be quite expensive, being valued at €35m by Transfermarkt and likely going for more due to having a contract until 2029 and being an important piece of the puzzle at Juventus currently.
The absolute dream option for me would be FC Barcelona’s Jules Koundé. The Frenchman would be beyond perfect for this Bayern team, offering his abilities on the ball along the right flank, both carrying and creating, as well as his massive presence off the ball. Koundé is the man making Hansi Flick’s Barcelona tick right now, with an unbelievable level of consistency that he’s kept up for the last year or so. Furthermore, he is naturally a centre-back, offering cover in a pinch, and he is already very familiar with Michael Olise and Dayot Upamecano who he plays alongside in the French national team and are the two players he will be closest to on the pitch at Bayern. However, it’s just not realistic to imagine Koundé leaving Barcelona, even if Bayern were to come in with a mammoth bid. Dreaming is free, though.
Anthony Caci is, for lack of a better and more concise summary, the French Josip Stanišić. Born 15 minutes from Saarbrücken in Germany, Caci grew up in the region on the border between Germany and France, and it shows in his play, combining those typical Ligue 1 defender tendencies of heavy-handed tackling and ball-carrying that he picked up in his time at RC Strasbourg with more German positional sensibilities that he’s imbibed over the last few years he’s spent at FSV Mainz. He is a player I have been watching for a long, long time, and with his contract at Mainz expiring in the summer, there is no way he wouldn’t be tempted if Bayern were to come knocking. Much like Stanišić, he is a centre-back capable of playing on either flank, but unlike Stanišić, he is not able to play on either flank through pure malleability but also because he is actually quite two-footed. In fact, he’s spent the last year playing right wing-back despite being left-footed, and the year before that he was freely switching between centre-back and both wing-back stations from game to game. Another free transfer that would bring enormous value for Bayern, as he is now in his physical prime at at the age of 28.
That wraps up the first half of this hypothesisation of players Bayern Munich should look at. Is there anyone you think we missed? Do you have any guesses for what’s next when we cover the midfield and attack? Let us know in the discussion below.
