Bayern Munich has already been quite busy in the transfer market during the summer transfer window thus far, but there is still plenty of time for further signings and departures. Vincent Kompany is working towards molding the squad to mesh with the ideas and tactics he wants to bring to the club and he’s already brought in Hiroki Ito and Michael Olise. João Palhinha is also close to completing a move to Bayern from Fulham and Bayern is still hopeful of also bringing in both Xavi Simons and Jonathan Tah in addition to Palhinha.
While there is a lot of optimism surrounding the players that have already joined Bayern and are expected to join before the summer transfer window closes, there is also some concern with what players could possibly be leaving. All of Joshua Kimmich, Alphonso Davies, Kingsley Coman, Matthijs de Ligt and Leon Goretzka have been linked with potential departures from Munich this summer, though De Ligt is the only player that seems to have anything in a more advanced stage than just speculation. The Dutch international looks set to be on his way to Manchester United this summer.
For the case of Goretzka, he is coming off of the heels of not being picked for Julian Nagelsmann’s Germany squad that made it to the quarterfinals of the European Championships, where they were knocked out by Spain in Stuttgart. He had some injury problems throughout the season and was never Thomas Tuchel’s first choice in midfield, which never helped his case for the national team.
Per information from Sport Bild’s Tobi Altschäffl (via @iMiaSanMia), Goretzka is not currently thinking about leaving Bayern despite having been out of favor under Tuchel. Under Kompany, there is a chance for a clean start even with the imminent arrival of João Palhinha from Fulham. Kompany, like Tuchel, could also show a preference to youngster Aleksandar Pavlović in midfield, but that remains to be seen at this current juncture.
Per Altschäffl, there has not yet been any direct contact between Goretzka and Kompany, so the player himself does not exactly have a clear idea of how he will be used by the new manager or what his plans are. While he is not entirely closed off to the idea of moving to a club abroad, that is something he personally envisions later on in his career and he wants to focus on Bayern for the time being. He will use the club’s preseason preparations as a gauge for where he stands with Kompany and if he will be a regular starter or not.
Goretzka’s current contract with Bayern runs through June 2026, just like Serge Gnabry’s, so it is a pivotal season in terms of the players future with Bayern. If it is a positive season, talks regarding a contract extension could be initiated at some point during the season, but if things do not go to well, the club could actively enter the market to offload him either in the winter, or next summer before he enters the final year of his contract. The prospect of potentially losing players like Goretzka and Alphonso Davies on free transfers over the next two seasons should not be conceivable for a club of Bayern’s stature.