Uli Hoeneß downplays the differing opinions on Bayern Munich getting a defensive midfielder

João Palhinha was very nearly a Bayern Munich player before the summer transfer window closed, but a deal with Fulham was not reached on time for the close of the window in Germany. Fulham, in the end, did not have enough time to find an ample, viable replacement for the Portuguese midfielder, so Bayern missed out on getting a No. 6, as well as Armel Bella-Kotchap from Southampton.

Thomas Tuchel had identified the defensive midfield role as an area he wanted addressed this summer, but that sentiment was sort of put on the backburner when his number one target, Declan Rice, joined Arsenal FC from West Ham. From that point, it was a full court press from Bayern to sign Harry Kane from Tottenham having already secured the likes of Konrad Laimer, Kim Min-jae, and Raphaël Guerrerio.

Overall, Bayern still had a decent window, but a lot has been made of the club failing to sign a No. 6 midfielder, or a replacement right back for the departed Benjamin Pavard and Josip Stanišić. Reports had suggested Bayern’s board didn’t exactly see eye to eye with Tuchel regarding a defensive midfielder, but former club president Uli Hoeneß recently said that all that speculation was just noise.

“That’s just a ploy to divide us. You can have different opinions. It’s always been the case before. That doesn’t mean we’d stop talking to each other or appreciating each other,” Bayern’s honorary president said to Sport Bild (as per @iMiaSanMia) when he was asked about disagreements between Tuchel and Bayern’s board. The self-proclaimed “transfer committee” at the club, after all, was comprised of Tuchel, Hoeneß, Jan-Christian Dreesen, and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, who marked a return to the club’s supervisory board after both Oliver Kahn and Hasan Salihamidzic were fired.

Bayern can certainly re-enter negotiations with Fulham for Palhinha heading into the January transfer window, and that’s likely what will happen, regardless of what difference of opinions there might have been internally at the club. For what it’s worth, the deal not getting over the line could be blamed on the board’s initial reluctance to signing a No. 6, but had Fulham found a replacement on time, Palhinha would currently be a Bayern player since his medicals were done.

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