Marca: Despite denials, Lucas Hernandez still expected to transfer to Bayern Munich in January (Updated)

There are lots of questions that still need to be answered about the future of Atlético Madrid's French defender Lucas Hernandez. In yet another twist in the tale, a recent report from Marca states that Hernandez could still be a part of Bayern Munich’s winter training camp, which will be held in Doha from the 4th of January.

The paper says that the player’s release clause will be paid in the first week of January, allowing the Frenchman to join the Bavarians on their winter training camp. No mention of Hernandez’s ongoing knee injury is made, so it’s unclear how the player could join training without recovering fully.

Miguel Ángel Gil Marín, CEO of the La Liga giants, has already denied the possibility of Hernandez joining Bayern in the winter. While speaking to Spox (via Marca) on Thursday, he made it clear that he would not allow the Frenchman to leave mid-season.

The player cannot leave in this winter market. If the player wants to leave then we’ll speak about it, but for July.

However, if Bayern choose to pay the release clause, Atletico would be powerless to stop them. The current state of the transfer is unclear — Marca’s report came out only a few hours after the club CEO denied the allegations of the player’s winter move. It contradicts a report by AS just a few days ago, that said Bayern would not buy the player in the winter.

Marca cite sources “close to the Bavarians”, but do not elaborate on whom exactly these sources could be. While they are known to have real and credible sources connected to the Madrid clubs, their track record with other teams is less than stellar.

It would be prudent to treat this latest report with some degree of skepticism.

Update: Another twist!