According to Munich-based newspaper TZ Bayern Munich submitted its first concrete offer for Bayer Leverkusen’s super-starlet Kai Havertz. But Leverkusen have rejected the Bavarians’ opening bid of €90 million. BFW’s own Berni15 wrote in late March that there is no reason to believe that Die Werkself will accept any offer lesser than €100 million. So far, that statement seems to be correct.

Since the future of James Rodriguez seems to lie outside Bavaria, it comes to no surprise that Bayern Munich has launched a serious effort to acquire the 19-year-old super talent. The Aachen native has had a superb 2018/19 season, scoring 17 goals in 34 games in the Bundesliga and assisting 4 more. Ever since Peter Bosz arrived at the BayArena, Havertz and the whole Leverkusen team raised their level of play, clinching 4th place on the Bundesliga table, meaning they will play in the UEFA Champions League next season.

Havertz, who is in the Germany squad for their upcoming European Championship qualifying games against Belarus and Estonia, has a current market value of €65 million according to Transfermarkt.

The rejection of the offer should not come as too much of a surprise for Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. Bayern’s chairman recently commented on his counterpart’s position at Leverkusen (TZ).

I completely understand Rudi Völler’s position. If I were him, I would also not sell him right now. Every transfer is a three-party business, if one party says no, then that’s that.

But has Bayern in fact made an offer for Havertz? As with the rumored bid for Manchester City’s Leroy Sané, Bild’s chief soccer editor Christian Falk claims that Bayern has not in fact submitted an offer. Falk apparently contacted Twitter user @iMiaSanMia directly and retweeted the following tweet:

Did they, didn’t they?

BFW Analysis

As it seems more likely that James will leave Bayern permanently this summer, it would make sense that Die Roten would try to pursue one of Germany’s most exciting attacking midfielders. 17 goals scored as a 19-year-old is incredibly impressive, even more so when it came from an attacking midfielder.

Yet €90 million for a player who turns 20 in eight days could be considered too much money too soon. But Havertz has proven this season why he is worth those type of sums. It seems that Völler would accept only a monster bid, since Havertz has two more years left on his contract, giving Leverkusen a full year before selling becomes imperative.

As of right now, it is the price that seems to stop Bayern from signing both Kai Havertz and Leroy Sané. Silly Season has intensified since the 2018/19 season came to a close, making it hard to decide who to believe. Nevertheless, it will be very interesting to follow the progress of both possible transfers.