Bayern Munich’s limited budget and squad planning are creating internal headaches

The Bayern Munich roster is in a state of flux.

Key, expensive veterans are seeking new deals, while the club also has to fill two big roles prior to next season. In addition, with the coach’s desire to shift formations, there could be an overload of players, who will not be playing their natural position moving forward.

When everything shakes out, the Bavarians will also need to add a center-back and a right wing-back, while potentially also looking for a central midfielder as well.

According to Sport1, Julian Nagelsmann is growing a bit frustrated with the situation, especially after the club failed to work out a deal with Niklas Süle:

According to SPORT1 information, Nagelsmann does not like the fact that he will soon lose an important constant to direct competition with Süle . It is clear to him that, above all, the objectives at international level must be screwed down if the squad is not sufficiently improved, especially in the defensive area. This not only applies to the position of the central defender, but also that of the right-back. Especially since there is also a risk of a gap developing in defensive midfield should the expected departure of Corentin Tolisso become a reality. All the more annoying from Bayern’s point of view that the Frenchman, like Süle, would go on a free transfer.

The issue for Bayern Munich is the finances. How does a club that relies so much on attendance thrive at a time where limited capacity is hindering revenue? Money for new players is not the only issue, however. Bayern Munich has an expensive squad already — and still needs to re-up Manuel Neuer, Thomas Müller, and Robert Lewandowski:

With Manuel Neuer, Lucas Hernández, Joshua Kimmich, Leon Goretzka, Leroy Sané, Kingsley Coman, Thomas Müller and Robert Lewandowski, eight players alone earn upwards of 15 million euros. Projected over the year, that’s already more than 120 million euros in personnel costs. And with the professionals mentioned, not even half of the squad is covered!

The budget is definitely suffering and undoubtedly played a role in the size of the offer that Bayern Munich made to Chelsea FC’s Andreas Christensen — which reportedly fell short of the mark set by FC Barcelona.

Former Bayern Munich and Germany great Lothar Matthäus thinks the club’s new management is floundering a bit in reigning all of this in.

“There is currently no clear line in contract negotiations on Säbener Strasse. It was different in (Uli) Hoeneß’s time,” Matthäus wrote for Sky (as captured by Sport1). “Hoeneß would have said: ‘Lewandowski can sign a three-year contract tomorrow and that’s it.’ The current club leadership is not clear enough. These discussions and questions that Robert is now confronted with cause unrest. Lewandowski doesn’t really know what he’s up to at the moment.”

Matthäus is perplexed at the overall cost Bayern Munich invested in Lucas Hernandez and also how the club cannot even make minimal investments in players that might have made a difference.

“This extension package (for Neuer, Müller, and Lewandowski) will cost around 150 million euros and it must be worth it to FC Bayern. If Hernández was worth around 200 million in all, then these three world-class players should certainly be. Because they are the reason and the foundation for the great success of the club,” said Matthäus. “Niklas Süle is now the third defensive player to leave the club on a free transfer in a very short time. I still can’t understand why they didn’t really fight for this defense chief. They should have kept Süle for so many reasons. If it’s true that Denis Zakaria’s commitment failed due to a transfer fee of five million euros, then I have absolutely no understanding. They should have bought such a great player who can play on the six, the eight or in a back three. (Zakaria) would have helped the team a lot more than (Bouna) Sarr, (Marc) Roca and (Marcel) Sabitzer, all three of whom are not reinforcements.”