French reports claim Bayern Munich still pushing for winter transfer of Benjamin Pavard

Bayern Munich might not yet be done trying to persuade Benjamin Pavard to transfer from VfB Stuttgart before the winter transfer window closes. The 22-year-old defender and World Cup champion has already signed a five-year, €35-million deal with Bayern that’s effective as of July 1st of this year, but reports out of France suggest that Bayern is going to try to push for an advancement and bring him to Munich before January 31st.

FranceFootball is reporting that Bayern would be willing to pay Stuttgart an additional €10-million to push the move forward, spearheaded by sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic. They write:

A proposal is expected in the coming days an additional ten million to convince VfB Stuggart to release it. Hasan Salihamidzic wants to force the lock for the French international (15 caps) before the closing of the winter market on January 31st.

Earlier this week, Stuttgart had rejected the attempts Bayern had lodged their way to try and move the transfer forward, but that was with an offer of only (approximately) €40-million, which would only be €5-million more than the initial €35-million deal. With the latest reports out of France, it’s understood that Bayern are ready and willing to increase that advanced offer to €45-million to try and convince Stuttgart to let Pavard go before the end of the month.

While it still seems unlikely that Stuttgart will budge, they’ve been getting used to life without Pavard in the fold for the past month due to a thigh injury he sustained in their 3-0 loss to Borussia Monchengladbach. Ironically enough, Pavard’s five-year deal was announced on the same day as Stuttgart’s 3-0 loss to ‘Gladbach.

(Photo by Federico Gambarini/picture alliance via Getty Images)

Markus Weinzierl and the rest of his coaching staff will have had plenty of time to digest the fact that they’ll be without Pavard next season, and might be well within their interest to take the extra €10-million to re-invest in the summer transfer window. By that same token, Stuttgart is in the midst of a tight relegation battle, as they’re only three points away from the drop zone and can’t really afford to lose a player of Pavard’s caliber before the end of the campaign.