Adam Aznou completed a move to from Bayern Munich to Everton earlier this summer, signing a four-year contract that will keep him on Merseyside through June 2029. Manager David Moyes was in the market for adding some creativity and potential to his squad after a 13th place finish in the Premier League last season and having lost veteran defender Ashley Young to Ipswich Town in the English Championship. Aznou joined Everton from Bayern for an undisclosed fee, but it has been reported by multiple outlets
that the fee was somewhere in the range of €9m.
For the young defender, it had become clear that he wanted to go somewhere that he would have more opportunities for minutes — something he did not see being a reality at Bayern under Vincent Kompany, who did not often use youth players in his maiden season in charge of the German Rekordmeister. Both Lennart Karl and Jonah Kusi-Asare have been bright spots in Bayern’s preseason in terms of younger, fringe players, but Azou had his mind made up before the FIFA Club World Cup had even ended for Bayern.
From the club’s perspective, they did not necessarily want Aznou to leave this summer and were very much planning on having him in the squad this season. Club sporting director Christoph Freund explained that they had a plan with the young defender in the press conference ahead of the Franz Beckenbauer Supercup against VfB Stuttgart.
“We had a plan with Adam. He’s a very talented player. But the player has to be convinced of the club’s plans. It wasn’t our plan to sell him, but it was his big desire to make this transfer. At the end of the day, we decided together that it had to be the best for everyone, including him. He has to be convinced, full of energy and passion, behind what he’s doing. That’s why we agreed on the move,“ Freund explained (via @iMiaSanMia).
It had become clear that Aznou felt it was best for him to move, despite how the club might’ve felt. His commitment to the club had been questioned after Bayern was knocked out of the Club World Cup by Paris Saint-Germain in Atlanta. He was one of the only players not to have used his social media platforms to offer best wishes for Jamal Musiala after suffering his fractured fibula due to a collision with keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. He had instead posted a picture with fellow Moroccan international Aschraf Hakimi, which was not received to well by Bayern fans, but he had privately checked on Musiala in Bayern’s dressing room and his desire to leave the club had nothing to do with a lack of a social media post to follow suit with most of Musiala’s teammates for Bayern and Germany.
Nonetheless, Aznou left Bayern after a loan spell with Real Valladolid and two and half season in Bayern’s youth, reserve and senior teams. He only made one eight-minute cameo in the Club World Cup, which was his last bit of action as a Bayern player before the move to Everton was completed.
