Mbappé, Neymar and, in general, Paris Saint-Germain dethroned this Tuesday in the French capital and between fireworks what was until a few hours ago the emperor of world football: Bayern Munich. The Bavarians came from a sextet last season, but the great champion team is going through a difficult process of decomposition and they face a more complicated future than expected.
The bench: Flick, in the air
Hans Dieter Flick arrived almost by chance after Kovac's dismissal, adjusted the team, dominated European and world football last season and now, all that legacy is in suspense.. The German has experienced several really tense episodes with Hasan Salihamidzic for seeing in a different way how to work with the squad, even disrespecting in public and in front of all the players.
With these underlying problems, the final straw was the DFB's moves to put Flick back on its organization chart with a succulent rise: from Löw's assistant to his successor. After this dispute, which Rummenigge has tried to calm in private and in public, the future of the architect of champion Bayern is up in the air.
Rummenigge himself, who has been putting out fires for more than a month, urged the Federation in public to look elsewhere for their candidates, but Flick did not close the door when Matthäus, from Sky Sports, assured this Tuesday that the coach will leave for the national team. “Regardless of whether things are going well here or not, you always have to think. Where am I going, what's next: I'm always thinking about these issues. Because for me, success is a constant process. For me, always there is an obligation to evaluate everything, face new challenges or think about how to approach it. Of course I have my ideas about it, “said Hansi Flick, who denied having contacted Oliver Kahn, Bayern exporter and responsible for his possible signing. The locker room and the offices are not going through their best moment in their relationship.
According to German media, Bayern are already sounding the market and Julian Nagelsmann of RB Leizpig is the favorite if the bench becomes free.
The template: key outputs
If something characterizes Bayern with money, it is that they try to do the least crazy things and manage it with some caution. Purchases over a certain figure go through the council and each expense seems to be carefully evaluated. The pandemic has touched their accounts and that caution has risen over each negotiation of new contracts. At the moment, few players are ending up satisfied and several pillars have left or will leave Bavaria in the coming months.
The first prop to come out was Thiago. The Spaniard closed his best games at Bayern with the Champions League qualifiers and the final in Lisbon when his stage had already ended weeks before. For the midfielder, at least, they took 22 million euros from Liverpool although its value was more than double.
With Alaba and Boateng, which according to Transfermarkt are worth 55 and 10 million euros respectively, Bayern will not get anything and lose two key men. The Austrian and the club have telegraphed their negotiations, making it clear from months before the end of their contract that they will not continue as they are not satisfied with Bayern's financial offer. As the season ends, he values his future between Real Madrid, Barcelona or the Premier.
In the case of Boateng, it has been Bayern itself who has decided not to renew the central defender to give Upamecano the opportunity, who will arrive this summer from RB Leizpig, and aims to be Lucas Hernández's partner in the center of the rear. Douglas Costa and Tiago Dantas will also appear.
Despite having the relays prepared with Nübel for the goal, Nianzou and Upamecano with a rise in the role of Lucas for the defense or young talents such as Musiala or Marc Roca, the old guard has been the key to recent triumphs and will set the bar high.
The signings: what about Haaland?
Bayern has dominated the first place in the Bundesliga in recent seasons and also its market. Few stars that came out of the rest of the German teams escaped the Bavarians, in a clear step from the rebels to the empire. They did it with Götze or Lewandowski as more striking examples in the last period, but, now, they will not go for Haaland. Rummenigge has already publicly valued the relationship they have with Borussia Dortmund and has denied to the media that the Norwegian is a target for Bayern this summer.
The Bavarians defend Lewy as their big star at the tip and they understand that he has enough gunpowder left for more seasons (he is 32 years old). Your competition, if nothing changes, will continue to be Chupo-Moting.
Spring is blowing up a champion Bayern, which is in the offing of a certainly unexpected summer of reform last August. Each signing will be measured and adjusted in search of becoming champions again when they have not yet yielded all the thrones they conquered in the last campaign. The cruel ferris wheel of soccer does not stop.