Last Week In Bayern News
June 22, 2020 At the weekend, Bayern easily defeated Freiburg 3-1 despite massive changes to the starting 11. This leaves the team with one remaining Bundesliga match to get ready for their DFB Pokal final in Berlin on July 4th. As always though, the news off the field also caught our attention and we’ve cultivated some of that news for you here.
Sunday
Thomas Müller started the week off by clarifying his statements on transfers and salary cuts after the Pokal match saying the quotes were taken out of context and that he was irritated with the media for asking him questions on transfers immediately after a match.
Ivan Perisic had one of his compatriots, Ivica Olic, campaigning for him to stay at FC Bayern in Bild saying that the 31 year old was in good form prior to his injury and has a lot to offer the Munich side over the next few years.
Kicker’s player ratings for the Gladbach game were not very favorable, though at least with good reason. The only player to be given higher than a 3 was Goretzka.
Monday
More birthdays…seriously, was every Bayern player born in June? This time it’s another legend and current board member Oliver Kahn.
According to Cadenza Ser, PSG are looking to replace Thiago Silva with Lucas Hernandez and have started talks with Lucas’ people. Meanwhile Hansi praised the Frenchman saying he’s a player that any manager would like to coach.
In the same press conference Flick stated that he was not worried about the break between the German competitions and the Champions League, noting that they had planned for it and that it can also be a huge advantage. He also is glad that there will not be a beer shower this year…though I’m not sure the rest of the Bayern community feels the same way.
Congratulations to Alphonso Davies who was voted Bayern’s player of the month for May.
In case you’ve been living under a rock for the last year, Bayern are leading the race for Kai Havertz and look for he and Leroy Sane to be part of a new look Bayern next season.
In a bit of Champions League news, the dates and locations were confirmed for the resumption of the tournament this season, all in August as expected. The Final for the next 3 years will also change with the planned Allianz Arena final being pushed back from 2022 to 2023.
Tuesday
According to AS, Bayern really want Hakimi for their right back position. Given that this appears to change on an hourly basis, I don’t think I’ll hold my breath. Hilariously, Falk shut it down less than an hour later.
Deservedly, Kimmich’s goal against Dortmund was the FC Bayern goal of the month for May.
In actual transfer news Bayern will bring in 18 year old PSG defender Tanguy Kouassi next season. His primary position is in central defense but he is also capable of playing as a six.
By this time we all know how the game went. Not the prettiest of performances but enough to celebrate a title. Alphonso Davies was busy in this match setting a record speed for Bundesliga players at 36.51 km/h and also collecting two yellow cards meaning he will miss the match with Freiburg. Meanwhile Lewandowski set a personal best in league goals at 31 and was his 45th overall.
Bayern also dominate the Bundesliga…in case you were unaware.
Müller apparently has been whispering in the ear of Alphonso Davies as he doubled down on the “Lewangoalski” name in an interview following the match…seriously guys, the cringe level is off the chart.
Wednesday
Bild and Falk are now reporting that Havertz will not transfer to Bayern this summer and that their efforts are solely on Sane. Supposedly, Bayern would be in for him in 2021 but whether he’s still available is yet to be seen. If you’re a Havertz fan, I wouldn’t worry too much though, I’m sure Bayern will be linked to the midfielder again in a few days.
Müller and Ribery had a bit of fun with each other as the German, as well as David Alaba, tied Ribery’s record of 9 Bundesliga titles.
Bild reports that Bayern continuing with their hard stance on Sane, offering 40 million for the winger. City of course consider this a paltry sum in exchange for the player but Bayern are attempting to force their hand by having Sane sign a pre-contract agreement in January and join on a free.
UEFA revealed some Champions League details. The 5 substitution rule will be adopted, while the matches will be played split between Benfica and Sporting’s stadiums. Newly transferred players will not be eligible, but the teams will be allowed to add players to their roster who were previously with the club.
Thursday
Thursday kicked off with with RMC Sport reporting that PSG are “furious” and targeting Lucas, though Bayern are being stubborn, as well as Bayern youth players in retaliation for signing Kouassi.
In injury news, Tolisso was back running 2 months after his ankle surgery. Thiago meanwhile is on track to be available again in 2 weeks, meaning he could be an option for the DFB Pokal. Bild also reported that Fiete Arp and Lukas Mai returned to training. And finally, Niklas Süle and Philippe Coutinho resumed team training.
Excellent news for anyone who was worried about Niko Kovac’s finances! Bild is reporting that Kovac will be paid his full salary through the end of the season as well as his full premium for winning the Bundesliga title. Maybe that will soften the blow for how well the team has done since his departure.
According to Sky, Bayern and Barcelona have agreed to have Coutinho stay till after the Champions League in August at which time he will return.
Friday
The Friday morning press conference kicked off with Hansi informing the media that Alaba (ankle), Perisic (something) and Gnabry (bruise) would miss the match on Saturday to give them a rest due to injury.
Pep Guardiola then dropped a bomb shell and confirmed to the press that Leroy Sane told the club he wanted to leave.
Alphonso Davies was voted as the Bundesliga Rookie of the Season by the fans.
According to Sky, Sergino Dest will be on the move with Bayern preferred over Barcelona and PSG.
Saturday
In Saturday’s game, a few records were set. Thomas Müller made is 350th Bundesliga appearance. Robert Lewandowski became the highest scoring non-German in a single season bringing his total up to 33. Bayern set a new win streak record at 15 and reached 100 total goals under Hansi Flick. Finally, two players, Chris Richards and Jamal Musiala, made their first team debut’s. Musiala was also the youngest player in Bayern history to debut for the first team.
Meanwhile, The Athletic reported that Sane was shopping for houses in Munich and wants to move as soon as possible, but that Bayern are not opposed to waiting a year if the money can be used for Kai Havertz. I’m sure Sane will be pleased to spend another season in Manchester so Bayern can spend money elsewhere.
According to le10sport, Bayer may be looking to rub some salt in PSG’s wounds by going after their 17 year old midfielder Adil Aouchiche and 15 year old defender El Chadaile Bitshiabu. I suppose if you’re going to anger someone you might as well make it worth it.
Earlier we hypothesized that Müller was strong arming Davies into the use of his Lewangoalski moniker. Well that doesn’t mean that the man himself has given up on his joke.
