Bayern Munich still doesn’t have a new sporting director to replace Hasan Salihamidzic, but that hasn’t stopped them from being active in this summer’s transfer window thus far. They’ve already completed the signings of both Konrad Laimer and Raphael Guerreiro and are close to signing Kim Min-jae from Scudetto winners SSC Napoli. This is all being done with a slightly new-look front office and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge now back in the supervisory board in the wake of both Salihamidizc and Oliver Kahn being fired.
Jan-Christian Dreesen has come in to serve as the club’s new CEO and he has very much been a part of the transfer discussions in concert with Rummenigge, Uli Hoeness, and Thomas Tuchel. There’s still a long way to go in the summer window and Bayern is still bracing for the sales of both Lucas Hernandez and Benjamin Pavard, all while Tuchel still wants to sign a top-class striker before the window closes.
In a recent interview with BILD (transcribed via @iMiaSanMia), Dreesen affirmed that Bayern’s bosses are meeting regularly to meticulously discuss transfer targets and which ones they should really pursue further. “We’re meeting regularly and discussing names and which contacts we should intensify. We’re going through individual positions, Thomas Tuchel and Marco Neppe present their ideas. It is imperative that Thomas is part of these meetings,” he explained.
There have been a bevy of names linked with Bayern in the past couple of weeks as it’s an absolutely vital window for them. Going into the window, Tuchel wanted to sign a defensive midfielder as well as a striker, but plans have changed slightly with West Ham United’s Declan Rice opting for a stay in the Premier League, most likely to join Arsenal FC, and both Hernandez and Pavard wanting to leave the club. Harry Kane, Victor Osimhen, Dusan Vlahovic, and Randal Kolo Muani have all been rumored to be in talks with Bayern to become their new striker, but nothing has advanced for any of them.
Even still, Dreesen sees it as positive that top names are getting linked with potential moves to Bayern and it, in a way, keeps the public away from what’s being discussed internally, which may be entirely separate from the links that they press is well aware of. “I think it’s good that all sorts of names are constantly being mentioned publicly. Because that means that what we are discussing internally is not so clear on the outside,” he rationalized.
The signings have to work wholistically for the club, too. Bayern doesn’t just want to sign players for the heck of it in the hopes they’ll yield positive results — they have to fit the club’s mold, as Dreesen alluded to. “He has to identify with us, with our values. We don’t want mercenaries who go to another club every two years. We need players who radiate energy, who give their all for FC Bayern and its fans,” he explained.
