Due to the injuries to both Aleksandar Pavlović and João Palhinha, Leon Goretzka has been able to start the last two matches for Bayern Munich; the 1-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League and the 3-0 Bundesliga win over FC Augsburg. The pair of matches occurred after the most recent international break, during which Palhinha sustained his injury on duty with Portugal while Pavlović has been working on his return to action from his injury he suffered earlier in the season in the first half of the 4-0 win over VfB Stuttgart.
For Goretzka, the Augsburg and PSG matches were two rare matches that he has started under Vincent Kompany, as the Belgian manager has a preference to using Pavlović alongside Joshua Kimmich for the pivot at the center of midfield. Just before the last international break, though, he did start in the 1-0 win over St. Pauli alongside Kimmich. However, the Augsburg and PSG matches were slightly more significant in the sense that he played the full 90 minutes in each of them.
Regardless of Goretzka’s recent minutes, which have all been solid performances, the club still does not see him in their plans for the future, which board member for sport Max Eberl has made evidently clear in recent weeks. Per information from Sport Bild’s Tobi Altschäffl (via @iMiaSanMia), the club is still ready and willing to listen to offers for the midfielder for a sale for either this winter, or this coming summer. His run of recent matches has not affected the club’ thinking on this matter, as once the injured midfielders are back, they will slot right back in ahead of him, relegating him back to a substitute’s role for Kompany.
Photo by Ralf Ibing – firo sportphoto/Getty Images
The player himself has recently switched his representative to the ROOF agency, so it seems that he is also anticipating a move in the very near future. He had the chance to leave the club during the summer, but chose to stay, hunker down, and fight for his place in the team — something that has clearly not come to fruition this season.
As things stand, Goretzka’s contract at Bayern runs through June 2026, so it is a crucial period for the club to try to get any sort of return on investment for him with his market value on a downward trend. A handful of clubs have previously expressed interest in Goretzka, but the Premier League in England is where Bayern feel like they can make the biggest profit from him at this point.
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