Real Madrid looking to sign another Bayern Munich player, you won’t believe who it is!

Sometimes I regret not being a football journalist, because they make it look so easy. Here’s how you make a transfer rumor: Take two top clubs — in this case Real Madrid and Bayern Munich — and claim that one is going after the players of the other. Come up with some half-baked justification and slap a random valuation there, and you’re done!

Or, at least that’s how this rumor looks like it came about. According to Tz, who cite various Spanish sources (themselves a chief source of brain rot) Florentino Perez is once again eyeing Bayern Munich as his personal player supermarket. Who’s he after this time? Go on, guess. You could click the link to find out, but no one who reads football transfer rumors ever checks sources so I know I’m safe on that front.

So, is it Serge Gnabry, whose contract runs out in a year? Is it Marcel Sabitzer, whose reportedly struggling to make an impact on the Bayern squad? Is it Robert Lewandowski, whom Madrid have been after for the better part of a decade now?

Nope, none of them. According to Tz, Real Madrid Madrid want Lucas Hernandez from Bayern Munich. Yeah, let that sink in. Not Gnabry, Sabitzer, or Lewandowski. They want ... Lucas Hernandez. And how is this rumor justified? Well it’s rather half-baked, even by the usual standards of football transfer rumors:

• Lucas could imagine a move back to Spain since he’s played there before.
• Some random Spanish news site said that Real are ready to make a 60m euro bid for him.

Yeah, that’s about it. Never mind the fact that:

• Lucas Hernandez was bought for €80m so there’s no way Bayern would ever let him go for just 60m euros.
• With Niklas Sule on his way out, Bayern needs to hold onto its remaining defenders.
• Lucas has an ironclad contract that doesn’t expire until 2024. Bayern doesn’t do release clauses either.

Seriously though, where do these rumors even come from? It’s just so random. Yeah, Madrid could probably use a defender (or two) right now, but why link them with Lucas? The name isn’t even glamorous, you don’t put him in a headline and expect 20 million clicks for your website (trust me, we’ve tried).

This is the kind of thing that makes you question everything you read online, at least about player transfers. The sheer proliferation of fake news in football reporting makes it all a chore to sift through. Let’s be honest, it’s fun to speculate about who your club could buy (or sell) in the transfer window. But the trend of clickbait news headlines based on flimsy foundations makes the whole endeavor feel pointless.

If you’re one of the people who fell for the deliberately bait-heavy headline of this article, please go read something else. We have so much better content out there, like our Mannschaft Planen series, tactical analyses, or even our podcast. And stick around if you feel inclined for more of the same! You’ll be so much better off if you do.