Bayern Munich content to keep hold of Tanguy Nianzou as it stands

Aside from a small collection of individual mistakes, Tanguy Nianzou put in a solid performance in defense in Bayern Munich’s recent 5-2 win over SL Benfica in the Champions League. It was his third competitive start of the season and he’s now collected a total of 287 minutes for Bayern this season. For him, it’s been difficult to get opportunities behind Niklas Sule, Lucas Hernandez, and Dayot Upamecano. For the Benfica match, Nianzou benefited from both Sule and Hernandez being out through injury.

Injuries have hampered Nianzou’s career at Bayern thus far, but he’s still played significantly less than he would’ve anticipated since joining from Paris Saint-Germain. With Upamecano’s arrival from RB Leipzig this summer, that made opportunities even harder to come by for the 19-year-old Frenchmen. Still, though, per new information from Sport1, Bayern still plans on keeping hold of Nianzou “as it stands.” The idea of a potential love move in the winter transfer window had been touted earlier in the season due to his significant lack of playing time, but Julian Nagelsmann, his coaching staff, and Bayern’s front office are keen on keeping hold of him for now and are convinced that he will eventually have his breakthrough (Sport1).

After Bayern’s midweek win over Benfica, Nagelsmann had high praises for Nianzou. “As a coach, I want a player to improve and give him a chance. It’s not just about training. You have to throw such a player in. What he can always do is defend and his header strength. He is very aggressive. He defended cleverly. He did well and was very hardworking,” he said.

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There are also question marks regarding Sule’s future at the club. There still haven’t been concrete talks to extend his upcoming expiring contract, but if there have been, Bayern’s front office is remaining increasingly tight lipped over the situation. He recently refuted rumors that Newcastle United had verbally expressed interest in signing him, but did not comment on his Bayern contract, however staying in Munich is still an option for him. If he were to leave next summer, this would obviously increase the opportunities for Nianzou, but the majority of Bayern fans would share the sentiment of wanting Sule to stay.