Ongoing negotiations: Bayern Munich in talks to extend Leon Goretzka, but the club’s new salary hierarchy has impacted talks

With most of the world focused on international tournaments, clubs like Bayern Munich are taking advantage of the down time to negotiate contract extensions with players. This is a challenging time for clubs as players are demanding more and more, but clubs are still recovering from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. According to a report from Sport Bild (as captured by Twitter account @iMiaSanMia), Leon Goretzka is one player that Bayern is attempting to negotiate with.

Reports state that Goretzka wanted to know more about Julian Nagelsmann before committing to a longer stay in Bavaria. It seems like the talks between them went well and Goretzka is impressed by Nagelsmann and his meticulousness and tactical knowledge. From the coaching side, there is nothing standing in the way of getting an extension done.

However, with no extension signed, you can only assume that Bayern is having problems meeting the salary demands of Goretzka, as was and — still is — the case with quite a few former and current Bayern players. Reports came out on Tuesday that Bayern sporting director, Hasan “Brazzo” Salihamidžić had words with Kingsley Coman’s agent over contract demands. Goretzka has recently added another agent to his representation — Thomas Kroth. Kroth also represents Manuel Neuer and has a difficult relationship with Brazzo over his salary demands for up to €23.5 million for Neuer.

While negotiating a potential contract negotiation for David Alaba, Bayern offered the Austrian defender €19.5 million per year including bonuses, before he left on a free transfer to Real Madrid. Bayern players including Goretzka and Kimmich now see this as a benchmark and are using it to leverage a better wage in their own contract extension negotiations.

Right now, it appears that the two parties will come to an agreement and Goretzka will remain in Munich. However, his market value is increasing consistently and Manchester United seem to be interested in the 26-year old German as an eventual replacement for Paul Pogba.

Whatever the outcome may be, one thing is certain — not many will be envious of the tasks on Brazzo’s plate at the moment.