In 2021, Bayern Munich made the move for then-RB Leipzig manager Julian Nagelsmann for a record fee and months later, the club signed Leipzig captain Marcel Sabitzer. Later in 2023, Bayern made another move at the Leipzig midfield and purchased Konrad Laimer. By this point, the purchase of another red bull midfielder was a confusing move. Ryan Gravenberch struggled to get minutes and Sabitzer had already been loaned out.
However, this transfer came at the request of Nagelsmann himself who needed a player
of his caliber. Nagelsmann needed someone with defensive abilities to sit next to Joshua Kimmich. He needed someone who’d counter-press to death, win balls back and basically play into the profile of a destroyer. Neither Sabitzer, nor Gravenberch, fit this profile. Sabitzer was an attacking-minded #8 who sat more advanced than Nagelsmann needed, and Gravenbech was a ball-carrier.
The transfer worked out for Bayern in ways they could not have anticipated. Laimer came in as a midfielder and now, is the starting right-back. This move came out of necessity — Benjamin Pavard had moved to Inter Milan, and both Noussair Mazraoui and Bouna Sarr were injured. In these circumstances Thomas Tuchel deployed Laimer as a full-back. However, it was Vincent Kompany who identified the Austrian’s strengths and hence the Laimer-Olise partnership was born.
Recently, Jürgen Klopp revealed that he tried to sign Konrad Laimer for Liverpool. Klopp is now a pundit for Magenta TV, speaking on the World Cup alongside our own Thomas Müller. The former Liverpool manager was speaking about Laimer for the Austrian National Team and about his positions. “As for Laimer, I can say this: I would play him as a defensive midfielder,” he said (as captured by @iMiaSanMia).
“I wanted to bring him to Liverpool to play in that #6 role. But then he went to Bayern,” Klopp stated.
Given the circumstances in which Laimer was brought to Bayern and the amount of scepticism towards the purchase of a Leipzig midfielder, we can be glad it worked out this way. With the recent news of his agreement for a long-term contract with Bayern, this is as good as it gets.
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