Official: Bayern Munich sign Lucas Hernandez for €80m

It’s official: Bayern Munich have smashed their record transfer, signing Atletico Madrid and France center back Lucas Hernandez for a staggering €80m. The Frenchman will sign a five-year contract, and join the team on July 1st.

In case you can’t believe it, here’s the official tweet from the club twitter account:

Lucas Hernandez will become the most expensive center-back in the world, beating out Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk in the process. The €80m paid for him is the most Bayern have paid for any transfer by some margin, the club’s previous record transfer being €41.5 for Corentin Tolisso in 2017.

Hernandez marks the start of the Bavarian rejuvenation promised by Uli Hoeness a few months ago. Hernandez and his compatriot Benjamin Pavard represent a massive €115m investment in the defense. Both players share certain similarities — they’re both center-backs who can play at fullback, they’re both French, and they both won the World Cup with France last year.

Here are some quotes from the man himself:

Today is a very important day in my football career. Bayern Munich is one of the best clubs in Europe and the world. I am proud to be able to fight for all titles with Bayern in the future.

I would like to thank Atletico, the management, the coaches, my teammates and the fans for a wonderful twelve years. Atlético will always be part of me. Now I’m happy that I’m taking the next step at Bayern.

We hope so too, Lucas!