Bayern Munich’s pursuit of another midfielder has pushed the club to explore a multitude of options on the market. From West Ham’s Declan Rice to FC Barcelona’s Frenkie de Jong to Paris Saint-Germain’s Marco Verratti, Bayern Munich apparently has some options.
One other name that emerged was Juventus midfielder Adrien Rabiot. At 28-years-old — and with a contract that expires in June — Rabiot could be an intelligent and cost conscious acquisition for the Bavarians.
However, Sky Sport journalist Florian Plettenberg says that while Rabiot was discussed internally at Säbener Straße, a pursuit of the midfielder is not imminent:
If you want one more twist to this story, Fabrizio Romano (as captured by @iMiaSanMia) says that Bayern “likes” Rabiot and were in talks with him last summer:
Bayern ‘like’ Adrien Rabiot. Manchester United are still interested in him after talks collapsed last summer. Several clubs are in the race, but nothing advanced as of now. Juventus have offered Rabiot a new deal but extension unlikely.
Bayern Munich interest in Rabiot actually dates back to 2018, but the midfielder has been on a bit of a wild ride since that point. Immensely talented, but considered to be petulant and immature, Rabiot wore out his welcome with Paris Saint-Germain before moving to Juventus in 2019.
Rabiot’s mother was heavily involved in his career early on, which created some friction for the France international, but he now appears to have matured and has a lot of good qualities that could be an asset to many teams.
Rabiot profiles as a No. 8, which really is not needed at this point at Bayern Munich, though. Joshua Kimmich is expected to push up to that position, while Leon Goretzka, Ryan Gravenberch, Marcel Sabitzer (expected to be sold, but part of the roster for 2023/24 at the moment), and RB Leipzig transfer Konrad Laimer are already poised to make it one of the most heavily trafficked battles for playing time in all of Europe.
There were also some rumors that Bayern Munich manager Thomas Tuchel and Rabiot have some heat from their time together at PSG, but Sport Bild’s Christian Falk says that is not the case:
Transfer Target of @FCBayern: contrary to other reports, Thomas Tuchel has no problem with Adrien Rabiot. The suspension at PSG was at the request of the club @juventusfcen @ManUtd
— Christian Falk (@cfbayern) May 24, 2023
Personally, I think Rabiot’s attributes would make him a strong candidate to play at Bayern Munich, but he just is not needed given the depth that the position already has for next season.
Imagine living in a world, where any club had the idea that it could land Paris Saint-Germain’s Kylian Mbappe, Borussia Dortmund’s Jude Bellingham, and Bayern Munich’s Alphonso Davies all in the same summer…that is apparently the world of Real Madrid:
Leaving PSG could be Kylian Mbappe, who is on Real Madrid’s summer wish list alongside both Bayern Munich left-back Alphonso Davies and Borussia Dortmund midfielder Jude Bellingham.
Barring any massive change of heart from Davies, we can safely scratch him off the list, but it does appears as if Bellingham is just about signed, sealed, and delivered to Spain.
As for Mbappe, it just seems like he is doing his annual kicking of the tires to see what is out there for him.
What a journey this season has been for Bayern Munich.
Here we are, the final Preview Show of the season — and a match that means something, but could end up meaning nothing at all. Borussia Dortmund’s result against Mainz 05 will determine whether or not the Bavarians have any shot of being the league winner.
That means that Bayern Munich has to play this match against FC Köln out in the event that BVB coughs up its two-point lead in the league and risk toying with playing youngsters or gambling that recently-injured players are fully healthy.
This is what we have on tap for this final 2022/23 edition of the Preview Show:
- A look at where each team sits in the league table.
- Some thoughts on how it all got to this point, why change is imminent, and the overall disappointment that things worked out this way at Bayern Munich.
- An attempt to guess Thomas Tuchel’s lineup and why it could be the last time we see a few players and player combinations working together in a significant way.
- A prediction on the match.
Depending on who you believe, Joao Cancelo’s stint with Bayern Munich will be ending in a few weeks. When it does, he will head back to Manchester City and might not have to worry about figuring out if he would like to return to Germany — as it might be an option that is already off-the-table.
Per at least one report, Cancelo had better cozy up to playing in England next season because no other clubs will be able to afford him:
Given the success of Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko this season, it is no surprise that Arsenal would love to sign Joao Cancelo. Jesus and Zinchenko have had a transformative effect on Arsenal since joining from Manchester City last summer for a combined fee of around £75million. The pair have helped the Gunners go from top-four contenders to title challengers, with their influence telling both on and off the pitch.
It begs the question as to whether City would sell to Arsenal again given they are now one of their biggest rivals. “Pep and Manchester City will never sell a player to Arsenal ever again,” declared former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher earlier this season when speaking on The Overlap in Focus. “The reason why Oleksandr Zinchenko was sold to Arsenal is because of Pep’s mate – and he didn’t feel Arsenal were a threat.”
The fact is in the current economic climate, the Premier League remains the best market for selling players and it is why City may have to accept that is Cancelo’s most likely destination.
Beyond that, there are few clubs in mainland Europe who can afford him, with Bayern Munich already out of the running after deciding not to make his loan move permanent. City will be aware of the Premier League’s dominance in the market and their other major sale last summer involved selling Raheem Sterling to Chelsea.
Cancelo would be an ideal fit for Arsenal, given he is able to play as an inverted full-back – which is a role Zinchenko has done to great success this season. Cancelo will not, however, come cheap as Bayern’s option to make his loan move permanent this summer was £61m. That would represent a large chunk of Arsenal’s transfer budget, with their main focus currently midfield.
Well, that was fun while it lasted. Bayern Munich have dropped points to RB Leipzig in shameful fashion, handing the lead in the Bundesliga back to Borussia Dortmund. The league title is practically out of reach, which means Bayern are set to go trophyless for the first time since the 2011/12 season, which was over a decade ago. This has has left people feeling shocked and upset, so we ask some important questions about the future of the club.
In this episode, INNN and Tom talk about the following:
- Who deserves the blame for the season going boom?
- INNN and Tom argue about what percentage of blame each party deserves — the board, Nagelsmann, and Tuchel.
- What happened to the mentality at Bayern Munich?
- What transfers should Bayern make next season? Is a striker enough to tip the scales?
- Why moving Joshua Kimmich to the #8 position wreaks havoc on the squad.
- What are the two major mistakes that Tuchel MUST NOT repeat next season?
- Will a new champion change the perception of the Bundesliga within the wider footballing community?
Former Bayern Munich prospect Timmy Tillman has been approved for a change of association that will allow him to switch from the German national team to the USMNT:
The U.S. Soccer Federation has confirmed that 24-year-old LAFC midfielder Timmy Tillman has been approved by FIFA for a one-time “change of association” and is now eligible to represent the United States in international competition. Tillman is a dual citizen of Germany and the United States.
Because he previously represented Germany in official competition at the youth level, he was required to submit an application for a one-time switch. With his request granted, he can now only represent the United States at the international level.
“To represent the United States is obviously making me proud. I’m really honored to do so and I’m looking forward to the future with the United States,” Tilllman said. “Telling my family about it was really exciting. As a kid, my brother and I dreamt of playing for a national team together and now we’re one step closer.”
The older brother of current USMNT midfielder Malik, Tillman was born in Nürnberg, Germany and is the son of a German mother and U.S. serviceman. Much like his brother, Timmy came up through the Greuther Fürth youth system before moving to the youth setup at the legendary German club Bayern Munich where he eventually played in the club’s second team. Tillman earned his initial taste of first-team football while on loan to FC Nürnberg in 2018-19, before transferring back to Greuther Fürth where he made 80 league appearances from 2020-23.
Tillman moved stateside at the start of this year where he’s had a strong start for defending MLS Cup champions LAFC, registering two goals in 10 appearances for the current Western Conference leaders.
Gabriel Vidović’s future will be decided this summer. The 19-year-old is expected to be loaned away or sold outright:
Gabriel Vidović will initially return to Munich in the summer before being loaned out again or sold.
Paris Saint-Germain is reportedly once again interested in Manchester City star Bernardo Silva:
After failing with a bid last summer, Paris Saint-Germain are looking to wrap up a £70m deal for Manchester City’s Bernardo Silva this year.
Well…it happened.
At one point, Bayern Munich looked like a serious contender to capture a treble and now the Bavarians are hoping like hell that Borussia Dortmund will suffer through a horrendous collapse…just to win the league crown.
After dropping a 3-1 decision to RB Leipzig, Bayern Munich is at risk of losing its first Bundesliga title in what seems like…forever.
Let’s take a look at what is on tap for this episode:
- A look at the starting XI and some of the odd decisions that Thomas Tuchel made for his 4-2-3-1 alignment.
- A run through the box score, including a timeline of how things fell apart.
- Thoughts on why the team’s season went down the toilet and why most of it stems from the ill-fated decision to fire Julian Nagelsmann in March and replace him with Tuchel at a totally inopportune time.
- Talking through why everything was set up for the perfect storm of organizational failures, poor decisions, ill-fitting players, and an overall tinge of arrogance that led to this mess.
