Lothar Matthäus puzzled by Benjamin Pavard’s desire to leave Bayern Munich for Inter Milan

There’s been a bit of a merry-go-round at the right back position for Bayern Munich in recent weeks as the transfer window closes in on its conclusion. Bayern did sign two defenders this summer, but Raphaël Guerreiro is a left back by trade and Kim Min-jae a center back. Benjamin Pavard is on the verge of leaving for Inter Milan and Bayern has already loaned out Josip Stanišić out to Bundesliga rivals Bayer Leverkusen. Noussair Mazraoui is the only senior right back left in the squad and Bayern is left scrambling to find a Pavard replacement.

Justifiably, former Bayern and Germany midfielder Lothar Matthäus is a bit puzzled by the whole situation. He doesn’t feel that, for Pavard’s sake, leaving Bayern for Inter is an upgrade, though he can understand the Frenchman’s desire to leave the club in general. Still, though, he naturally questions why the club let Stanišić go while already knowing Pavard wanted to leave for Inter.

“Despite all the love I have for my former club, I have to say that going from Bayern to Inter would not be an upgrade at the moment. Even though Inter played a great last season, made it into the Champions League final and won the cup, Bayern is the bigger number in Europe. But he (Pavard) wants to play at center-back in the long run. He has shown that he’s very good at it,” Matthäus recently wrote for a Sky Sport column (via @iMiaSanMia).

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After all, it was Inter that finished second in the Champions League group behind Bayern last season that ultimately gave them an easier route to the final, where they eventually lost to Manchester City. Bayern, of course, had to get past Paris Saint-Germain before faltering over two legs to Pep Guardiola’s eventual treble-winning side.

Despite thinking Bayern to Inter is a bit of a downgrade, the former Bayern and Germany midfielder understands that Pavard has a preference to playing center-back as opposed to right-back. This is where he predominantly played at VfB Stuttgart before getting signed by Bayern, but was never able to be a bonafide center back for the Rekordmeister due to that position already being heavily covered by other top talents.

“I can understand him a bit. They didn’t use him as much at center-back as he would have liked and they won’t let him go without a replacement. He was always a reliable, good Bayern player with impeccable character. I also didn’t quite understand why they let Stanišić go and are now looking for a replacement for Pavard,” Matthäus explained.