Bayern Munich reportedly interested in bringing World Cup veteran out of retirement

Bayern Munich was hit with two devastating injuries to players capable of playing the centerback position at the beginning of the season. First, Javi Martinez tore his ACL in the DFL Supercup. Then, Holger Badstuber tore a thigh muscle against Stuttgart. The club moved quickly to bring in Xabi Alonso and Mehdi Benatia to presumably end the transfer dealings for the year. However, if a report out of Belgium is to be believed, FC Bayern are looking to bring a former player back to the club.

The word on the street is that Pep Guardiola and company have approached Daniel van Buyten about returning to the club on a short term basis to provide some depth to give more rest to the centerback corps. The idea is that since Van Buyten is familiar with the club and has only been without full training for a little over two months, it wouldn't take the Belgian too long to get back into shape enough to perform "spot duty".

While the idea of bringing a 36 year old Van Buyten back into the squad doesn't fill me with immense joy, I can actually see this being an idea that the club would pursue. Perhaps, you just bring in Van Buyten on a 6 month contract? He can provide that depth until Badstuber and/or Javi return from their injuries. Or, are you more comfortable with just sliding Alaba and Rafinha into the "back three" formation whenever you want to give one of the other guys a break or, god forbid, one of them picks up an injury?

Of course, all of this depends on whether or not Van Buyten actually wants to cut his retirement short for one more run with the reigning world champions FC Bayern Munich. He declined an offer over the summer from Anderlecht, so perhaps he just enjoys the retirement life?