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Now this is something crazy. Bayern Munich coach Julian Nagelsmann needs a new right-back this season, and it looks like he’s ready to do anything to get one. Since the club won’t spend another penny on a new player this window, he’s looking to promote a player from the second team and convert them into a right-back. The options? 19-year-old attacking midfielder Christopher Scott and 17-year-old CB Justin Che.
This information comes from Florian Plettenberg’s podcast “Meine Bayern-Woche”, and the relevant extract was captured by @iMiaSanMia below:
Bayern have no current concrete target for the right wing-back position. Money must be generated through player sales before spending. Nagelsmann had 2 names in mind that could be developed in the position: Justin Che & Christopher Scott [Podcast Meine Bayern-Woche, @Plettigoal] pic.twitter.com/kmcTggKsng
— Bayern & Germany (@iMiaSanMia) June 25, 2021
Of course, Che went back to FC Dallas this summer and is set to play for them in MLS, but he could become an option in the future — the young American is still on Bayern’s radar. That leaves young Christopher Scott as Nagelsmann’s most immediate option.
Scott is NOT a right-back, or even a defender by trade. He’s an attacking midfielder in the reserve team, and received numerous callups by Hansi Flick last season on account of his prodigious talent. Nagelsmann reportedly wants to use a 3-4-3 next season, and Benjamin Pavard is simply too defensive for that system. In Scott, the coach may be hoping for a player who can make the move from attacker to wingback, just like Alphonso Davies did in 2019.
Is this a good idea? Who knows. But you can’t help but feel that Nagelsmann is being hung out to dry by the bosses. Bayern have been looking for a proper offensive right-back since last summer, when the club spent ages pursuing Sergino Dest only to lose him to FC Barcelona. That was what led to the signing of Bouna Sarr, which has been a disastrous move for the club.
If this move for Scott doesn’t work out, Nagelsmann’s only other options would be to convert Serge Gnabry into a RWB, or move Niklas Sule to the RB spot and hope he pulls out some Hollywood dribbles. It’s crazy how the most expensive coach in the world isn’t being given the tools to put a proper squad together, and Bayern have only grown weaker since winning a treble just last year. If reports of this experiment with Scott are real, we hope it works out — but for a team like Bayern, experiments like these shouldn’t be necessary.