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Details emerge on what really happened with Bayern and Jann-Fiete Arp

The Arp to Bayern deal was reportedly done, until a last minute change of heart. Find out why things fell apart and why they still can work out later down the road.

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Earlier in the summer, it seemed like a done deal that Jann-Fiete Arp would join Bayern Munich. The plan after signing the deal was where details got a bit murky and things fell apart.

Would Bayern keep Arp on the first team to battle for minutes or would the club loan him out? A loan surely seemed like the better option, especially once the noise on Robert Lewandowski’s desire to leave Munich died down.

Sport Buzzer captured a report by Sport Bild that broke down how Arp ended up back with Hamburger SV.

As “Sport Bild” reports, Bayern wanted to commit (to Arp) and then lend him directly to the TSG Hoffenheim. Arp wavered on that and pursued another plan: Change to Munich and then directly go back to HSV on loan for two years. The Bavarians rejected this proposal, writes Sport Bild.

Bayern, it appears, was not too keen on Arp spending more time in Hamburg. The deal, however, is not dead. Per Sport Bild, Arp and Bayern will sync up again in 2020 when Lewandowski has one year left on his deal and Sandro Wagner’s deal expires.

Arp and the record champions have already agreed that the striker will sign a contract with FC Bayern in the summer of 2020. According to Sport Bild, the 18-year-old could have signed for four years in Munich before his contract extension in Hamburg - with a salary of five million euros per year. In Hamburg, Arp is earning more than 400,000 euros.


BFW Analysis

For once, this....makes....sense? Well, except the part about Arp passing up that much money to play two years in Hamburg rather than with Hoffenheim. When looking at the rationale, you can see how both sides had a clear idea on how they wanted to proceed and it just didn’t work out:

1 - Arp wanted to sign with Bayern, but if he was going to spend two years on a loan, he wanted it to be in his comfort zone with Hamburg.

2 - Bayern wanted to sign Arp, but was not going to pay him that amount (€5M per year) and not be able to send him to their comfort zone, Hoffenheim, under the watchful eye of Julian Nagelsmann (for this season before he leaves for RB Leipzing in 2019).

In the end, this is actually good news if you were on the “Arp Hype Train.” Playing the next two years with Hamburg likely won’t hinder Arp’s development and the German talent will still be able to sign with Bayern right when Die Roten will be in the market for a striker in 2020. Lewandowski’s deal with the club ends in 2021 and potentially getting a year on the training ground with one of the top strikers in the world is not a bad way to transition into a team for Arp.

Yes, two years at Hoffenheim would have been better for Arp; there’s no question, so Bayern’s willingness to reject the deal was understandable as well. Why invest in an asset and then not be able to control it? At 18, though, Arp still young and just feels more comfortable playing for Der Dino until he can make a move to Bayern.

In the end, it seems like everyone will eventually get what they want.

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