Julian Brandt on the verge of huge transfer to Bayern Munich

Bayern Munich have been linked on and off with Julian Brandt for the better part of the last three seasons. Now at the age of 20 — he turns 21 in May - Brandt seems poised to make the big money transfer everyone has long expected of him.

BILD reports that Brandt is on the verge of a move to Bayern for a transfer fee of €30M, according to personal sources close to the player. Brandt's contract reportedly contains a performance-based exit clause that allows him to leave Bayer Leverkusen on a €12.5M buyout a year before the June 2019 end date. With the looming deadline, Leverkusen are seeking a big money cash in on their asset with Bayern.

The addition of Julian Brandt this offseason would engender considerable questions about the long term future of Douglas Costa at Bayern. With both Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben signed to extensions through the 2017/2018 season— and Kinglsey Coman's looming purchase —, adding a 5th winger to the mix would be untenable. Given Costa's assertions of leaving for greener pastures, its not hard to think of him as the odd man out.

If Brandt joins this summer, he would be the third German international signed — joining Niklas Sule and Sebastian Rudy — in a pattern that would see them returning to defining themselves domestically after the Pep Guardiola era.