Stuttgart coach acknowledges Benjamin Pavard-to-Bayern rumors

VfB Stuttgart coach Markus Weinzierl has his hands full in trying to keep Die Schwaben out of the Bundesliga basement, but that did not stop him from addressing the elephant in the room for his squad: Benjamin Pavard’s alleged move to join Bayern Munich in the offseason.

As told to SportBild, Weinzierl acknowledged, but did not confirm, the rumors that the French World Cup winner would be heading to Bavaria next summer. Specifically, Weinzierl gave his opinion on whether or not Pavard is at the level of Die Roten.

I know what they’re aiming for and I know the rumors. But if they want to know whether Benji could play for Bayern in the future: Yes, he would have the level.

Weinzierl, who previously coached with FC Augsburg and Schalke, is desperately trying to get Stuttgart as far away from the Bundesliga’s last three positions in the table as possible and has seen a recent uptick in the team’s performance. Stuttgart has two wins in its last three games, including a 1-0 win over FC Augsburg last Saturday.

Weinzierl also hopes that Stuttgart can improve its roster in the winter transfer window in an effort to keep the team’s recent upward trend going.

That must be the goal. But in winter, it’s difficult to get good players first. And secondly, you need happy circumstances to find good approaches. In Augsburg we managed this with André Hahn and Alfred Finnbogason, for example and at Schalke with Guido Burgstaller. I hope we have a similar hand here.