Bayern Munich’s Hasan Salihamidzic meets agent of mystery target in Madrid

In an interview on ZDF (via Bild), among many other interesting subjects, Bayern Munich sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic revealed that he had traveled to Madrid for an important meeting. Naturally, this calls for some speculation.

Here’s how the confession came about. When asked about an alleged meeting with former Real Madrid and Spain boss Julen Lopetegui, Brazzo categorically denied that any such meeting had taken place. However, while doing so, he confirmed that he did meet with an agent in Madrid, just not the one that represents Lopetegui.

So who was it then?

Since Brazzo denied meeting with Lopetegui and stated that he “would not go behind Kovac’s back,” we can safely rule out any managers (such as Jose Mourinho or Diego Simeone). However, there are a plethora of players that Bayern Munich might be interested in who currently ply their trade at Madrid, so let’s take a look at a few of the likely possibilities.

James Rodriguez is one of the likely candidates. Bayern Munich might still have some hope of keeping him, after all. Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has insisted that he is a fan of the Colombian. Perhaps the meeting was conducted with someone from Jorge Mendes’ agency or a representative of Real Madrid.

Of course, the meeting might have nothing to do with James at all. Real Madrid are expected to eject a large number of players this summer. Gareth Bale and Dani Ceballos are apparently among those on the chopping block. Bayern have been liked to Gareth Bale before, but it simply doesn’t make sense to buy him. All reports indicate that Real are looking for a hefty transfer fee, something that the bosses simply wouldn’t agree to. After all, Bale is currently an ageing, injury-prone mess — he’s more likely to end up at Manchester United.

So what about the other side of Madrid? Atletico have Rodri, who Bayern have been linked with before, but those rumors went cold some time ago. Antoine Griezmann is expected to move this summer, but he’s been linked heavily with a transfer to Barcelona, not Bayern. And besides being prohibitively expensive, he also doesn’t quite fit the profile that the bosses are looking for.

In all honesty, we could spend days just speculating on the possibilities. Maybe it had nothing to do with a player transfer, or maybe Brazzo is looking to cut some kind of deal with Real Madrid over James. Maybe it was a secret meeting to discuss the new European Super League? Who knows?

Silly season has begun early this year. The coming months are going to be a roller-coaster of rumors, links, and half-truths.