Bayern Munich training updates: Goretzka eyes injury return, Sarr impresses, and more

After Julian Nagelsmann rewarded his players with two days off, Bayern Munich have an abbreviated window in which to prepare for this Saturday’s Bundesliga tilt against second-placed Borussia Mönchengladbach. This week, the updates are again mostly encouraging on the injury front, and there’s a surprise player name mentioned among the standouts.

From Bild, as captured by @iMiaSanMia, midfielder Leon Goretzka is continuing his recovery from an offseason procedure on his knee and is eyeing a “mid-September” return. Potentially, that puts his schedule behind the September international break, during which Hansi Flick’s Germany team will complete their Nations League tour. It’s looking likely, unfortunately, that Goretzka will have missed most of the lead-up preparation to the 2022 Men’s World Cup in Qatar.

But Goretzka is “working with the ball” now in addition to sprints. As long as he’s taking this slow and steady and encountering no setbacks, it’s a sigh of relief on our end.

Two of the late injury scratches from last week — Jamal Musiala and Alphonso Davies — are also starting to make their return:

No doubt they’ll both be eager to get back into action, but with the hectic fixture list coming up, bringing everyone back slowly and stably is hopefully the priority. It does sound like Serge Gnabry is closer to returning to the starting lineup this week. Should that prove to be the case, it’ll be another opportunity for both Dayot Upamecano and Matthijs de Ligt to start as the center-back pairing, as well as another chance for Leroy Sané to be in the mix up front.

Update — As of August 24, however, looks like both Musiala and Davies are back in full training:

Saturday’s Gladbach game might be the last Bundesliga outing for Bouna Sarr in Bayern colors. The Senegalese right-back is reportedly still on the transfer list, but has also impressed of late. From kicker, via @iMiaSanMia:

Bouna Sarr has presented himself well in training in the past two weeks. The Senegalese, who is a candidate for sale, has no concrete offers as of today

With the transfer window closing September 1st and only Gladbach (August 27) and Viktoria Köln (August 31) remaining, time is running out for Sarr to get the chance to advertise himself on the pitch this season. Sarr is keen to maintain his position on his national team roster for the World Cup as well (per Christian Falk / @iMiaSanMia).