VfL Wolfsburg’s Ridle Baku says there hasn’t been any “concrete” interest from Bayern Munich

In a recent interview with kicker, VfL Wolfsburg’s Ridle Baku admitted that he never knew of any concrete interest from Bayern Munich last summer. At the time, he had made the switch from Mainz to Wolfsburg for 10 million euros after making a total of 54 appearances for Mainz’s senior team. He had worked his way through Mainz’s youth teams before making his breakthrough into the first team in 2018.

In the kicker interview, Baku referenced the fact that the rumors linking him to Bayern really only started to surface after he had signed for Wolfsburg. He added that there was nothing “concrete” from the reigning Bundesliga champions. “It only came up in the media after I had already signed with Wolfsburg. There was never anything concrete,” the 23-year-old explained. Of course, last year’s (summer) transfer window extended into the fall due to the coronavirus pandemic, and there were a lot of moving parts for Bayern, especially having finally signed Leroy Sane from Manchester City.

Baku has been impressive for Mainz, Wolfsburg, and Germany’s U-21 side. Hansi Flick has already mentioned that he plans on giving Baku a chance in Die Mannschaft’s senior team for their upcoming World Cup qualifiers. With wanting to move Joshua Kimmich back up to midfield alongside Leon Goretzka at the heart of Germany’s midfield, there’s a spot open at right back, which Joachim Low and Germany were short of at the Euros this summer. Baku’s performances in recent seasons for both club and country haven’t gone unnoticed and there’s a reason why Flick is keen on integrating him into the German setup.

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While there might not have been anything “concrete” from Bayern last summer as far as signing Baku, he feels that he would 100% be ready to play for a top club like Bayern if the opportunity were to present itself. “I definitely have the confidence to take a bigger step at some point. But I don’t have to leave Wolfsburg now, I’m totally satisfied,” he said when he was asked about future plans. He also added that he didn’t feel that he moved to Wolfsburg too early.

Even after an impressive Euros campaign for the Germany U-21s — and interest from other clubs — Baku is fully committed to Wolfsburg for the time being. “I have no idea if clubs had inquired to my agent. But for me that’s not an option anyway,” he replied when he was asked about interest from elsewhere in the transfer market.