It’s still unclear whether or not Bayern Munich is going to sign Manchester City’s Kyle Walker, but they already have Noussair Mazraoui. Benjamin Pavard is expected to leave the club this summer, leaving only Josip Stanišić as Bayern’s only other natural option at right-back in the squad.
The Croatian international might not be Thomas Tuchel’s first choice at right back behind Mazraoui or whoever else Bayern might sign during the summer transfer window, but he is still very much in the club’s plans for next season.
Per kicker’s Frank Linkesch (via @iMiaSanMia), Stanišić has been told by the club’s coaching staff and hierarchy that they are very much planning with him for the 2023/24 campaign. Per Linkesch, the club appreciates his reliability, flexibility, and how much he’s developed since he was initially given chances by Julian Nagelsmann in the 2021/22 season. This stance, however, could change if, say, Pavard doesn’t wind up leaving during the summer transfer window and Bayern also completes the signing of Walker, at which point there would be an abundance of right backs in the squad.
Stanišić made a total of 23 appearances across all competitions this past season, missing a few matches towards the end of the season due to a hamstring injury. He really burst onto the scene in the beginning of the 2021/22 campaign when Pavard was recovering from an ankle injury. He started the DFL-Supercup and two of the three opening Bundesliga matches of Nagelsmann’s maiden season as Bayern manager; two of those matches were wins (vs. Borussia Dortmund and Hertha Berlin) and one was a draw (vs. Borussia Monchengladbach).
With Pavard and Mazraoui ahead of him in the pecking order for the majority of the season, the Croatian was really only able to get starts when either of the former two weren’t available for selection and there were a total of 23 matches where he was an unused substitute on the bench. This suggests that there’s a certain element of lack of trust that both Nagelsmann and Tuchel had/have for him, but there have been showcases of very strong performances from him, much like when he started and played 90 minutes as a center back in the second leg Champions League round of 16 win over Paris Saint-Germain. Bayern won that match 2-0, advancing to the quarter-finals with a clean sheet to boast.
