Bouna Sarr tells how he ended up at Bayern Munich, laments injury struggles

Seldom-used Bayern Munich right-back Bouna Sarr has been one of the most controversial pick-ups by sporting director Hasan “Brazzo” Salihamidzic, but the veteran explained just how it all happened.

“We played Bayern in a friendly. The day after, a Marseille analyst told me many Bayern officials were next to him in the stands, and they liked me. Five or six days before the window closed, I was struggling with an injury,” Sarr told L’Equipe (as captured by @iMiaSanMia). “My agent called me and said: ‘Are you able to pass a medical check?’ — I asked him: ‘Yes, why?’ — he said: ‘Bayern want you’ — I had just woken up. I hung up the phone then called him again after a few minutes & said: ‘Wait what did you say? Bayern?!’ Then everything happened quickly. I signed on the last day of the window. I was worried Marseille might block the move, but after 5 years there, it was a win-win for everyone. For Marseille, it’s also valuable when one of their players goes to Bayern.”

From there, though, things did not work out — and Sarr attributes some of his struggles to a knee injury that he kept private.

“Benji (Pavard) then got injured. People didn’t know that I was playing while having knee problems, I played with painkillers. Before the game vs Dortmund, I hurt myself in training, there was no other right-back, I had to play despite the pain,” Sarr said. “I played a very average match. We won 3-2. I told myself: ‘What am I going to do? I wasn’t good today, my knee still hurts, what’s going to happen now?’ Two days after, one of Didier Deschamps’ assistants called me and told me to join them. Johannes, who’s in charge of the personnel at Bayern, told me the club’s doctors will advise me against joining the national team. The French team was calling, but Bayern’s doctors were hesitating. I packed my bags and was ready to go to France. At the airport, the national team doctor called me and said it wasn’t a good idea for me to travel. Bayern’s doctors were right, it was risky. I had to forget that and I focused again on Bayern. But what happened affected my season.”

Through it all, though, Sarr is intent on staying in Munich.

“I never thought about leaving. I will evaluate the situation with the club in the summer. For me, my injury last season affected me. Bayern is a big club, you always have to be at the top. Bayern didn’t sign me for nothing,” Sarr said.