Herbert Hainer: A new Bayern Munich striker must be “the right player in the market”

Robert Lewandowski is no longer at Bayern Munich, but the Bavarians are showing no signs of not being able to score goals. Bayern have eleven from their last three matches across the Bundesliga and Champions League. They also have the best goal difference in the Bundesliga (+17) — but even still, the Rekordmeister is dropping points on the regular, the latest incidence coming at Borussia Dortmund, and every time the natural question comes up: do Bayern need a natural striker?

Club president Herbert Hainer recently spoke about the topic of potentially investing in a striker in the winter. Much like what the club’s front office has already said about the subject matter before, he didn’t want to close the door entirely to possibly making a move in the next transfer window(s) — but circumstances would have to be just right for sporting director Hasan “Brazzo” Salihamidžić to pull the trigger.

“Unfortunately, players like Lewandowski who guarantee 25-30 goals don’t exist like sand by the sea,” Hainer on BR24 (via @iMiaSanMia). “It’s not that easy to find them. I don’t think it’s primarily a question of money, it has to be the right player in the market.”

So far, manager Julian Nagelsmann has replaced Lewandowski by committee: Jamal Musiala leads the team with 5 goals in the Bundesliga, while both Leroy Sane and Sadio Mane have 4. Serge Gnabry, Joshua Kimmich and Thomas Muller all have 2 a piece, while there are five separate players on 1 goal — Matthijs de Ligt, Benjamin Pavard, Leon Goretzka, Mathys Tel, and Kingsley Coman.

In the Nagelsmann system, Bayern has shown that they know how to score goals but taking away that insurance policy of a player scoring boatloads of goals every season is certainly an adjustment to make — especially with the kinds of goals that Lewandowski, the quintessential no. 9 of today’s era, was known for.

“FC Bayern has always played with a striker in the past, that’s quite clear. In the last eight years in particular, Robert Lewandowski has played outstandingly,” Hainer continued. “Hasan is constantly traveling around the world. If there’s an opportunity for us, we’ll certainly look at it.”

At the end of the day, though, Hainer is more than happy with the attacking players Bayern currently possesses. For him, they are more than capable of leading the line.

“We have great players, there’s no doubt about that. When I look at our attack with Leroy Sané, Sadio Mané, Thomas Müller, Gnabry, Coman – they are all world-class players. They just have to put the ball in the net,” he said.

Bayern may need a demonstration of that ability — and soon.