Hasan Salihamidžić’s plan for Bayern Munich’s transfer window

After last summer’s transfer window was mostly viewed as disappointing, Bayern Munich sporting director Hasan Salihamidžić has to work hard this transfer window, as he has to meet the expectations with a limited transfer budget. Abendzeitung speculates that it will not be easy for Brazzo, but what’s his plan?

Confirmed arrivals

Bayern has already secured the signing of Dayot Upamecano, who will be a direct replacement for Jerome Boateng. Reportedly, Omar Richards is already on his way to Munich, and he will become David Alaba’s replacement.

Required positions

Salihamidžić wants to bolster up his team in two positions — right-back and central midfield. Since Joshua Kimmich moved to the midfield, Bayern had a difficult time finding a quality, backup right-back. Bouna Sarr wasn’t good enough in his first season at Allianz Arena, and the team is already looking to replace him.

Bayern Munich lost depth in the midfield after Thiago left for Liverpool, as Corentin Tolisso couldn’t fill his shoes.

Who could join Bayern Munich?

Now, this is where it gets tricky for Salihamidžić. When it comes to the right-back position, Achraf Hakimi was linked to a move to Bayern. The deal is unrealistic since Bayern should pay around €40-€50 million to acquire Inter Milan’s player. Conte’s possible departure from Inter could change the situation a bit, but still, the deal is doubtful because of Bayern’s limited transfer budget.

When it comes to midfield, the situation isn’t much better. Gini Wijnaldum was linked to a move to Bayern, but it seems that the Dutch player already chose Barcelona. Eduardo Camavinga and Florian Neuhaus are other options, but both of them are, again, tough to acquire because of their high transfer fees.

So it’s getting more difficult for Brazzo to maneuver through the transfer window successfully.

Who might leave Bayern Munich?

The two obvious candidates are Tolisso and Sarr. The good thing about Tolisso is that he managed to recover from his injury in time and could spark some interest on the market with a few good performances at the European Championships this summer.

But things might change for Brazzo drastically if Bayern decides to sell Niklas Sule and Kingsley Coman. Sule’s contract runs until 2022, and so far, the contract extension talks have been difficult. The same could be said for Coman, though his situation is less urgent as the Frenchman’s contract runs until 2023.

So, if Bayern sells Sule, then they might not even buy another central defender, as Chris Richards could prove a good backup defender, and Brazzo could invest that money in some other player. Surely, Bayern wouldn’t get too much for Sule, but it could prove vital.

The situation with Coman is a bit more complicated — he would be a lot more expensive than Sule, but his replacement would be a lot harder to find. Also, a good winger doesn’t come cheap.