As has been expected for weeks, Bayern Munich defender Lucas Hernandez has completed a transfer to Paris Saint-Germain, per a release from FCBayern.com:
Lucas Hernández (27) is moving from FC Bayern to Paris Saint-Germain. The France international joined the German record champions from Atlético Madrid in 2019.
FC Bayern CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen: “We would like to thank Lucas Hernández for four very successful years together. He always gave everything, we were always impressed by his fighting spirit and his passion. FC Bayern wishes him all the best for the future.”
In his four years at FC Bayern, versatile defender Hernández made 107 competitive appearances, scoring two goals. With the Munich club, he won the Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup, the FIFA Club World Cup, four German championships, the DFB Cup once and the German Supercup twice.
What the release did not detail was Hernandez’s extensive injury history. While Hernandez is a supremely talented defender, who plays with a genuine fire in his game, he missed a lot of time due to injury after becoming Bayern Munich’s record signing back in 2019.
The “falling out” between Hernandez and Bayern Munich seemed to stem from a delay in reaching the serious stage of contract talks — likely due to the Frenchman’s major knee injury. As we covered earlier this summer, though, Bayern Munich might have been doing the smart thing to take a “wait-and-see” approach:
Realistically, Bayern Munich made a prudent decision to wait on diving into negotiations. Hernandez has a lengthy injury history (the Frenchman has missed 81 games and 754 days of activity during his career due to injury, including 65 games and 481 days of activity with Bayern Munich alone per Transfermarkt) and did suffer a major knee injury. It is not as if most clubs would eagerly jump into negotiations after a sometimes brittle defender suffered a torn ACL.
Regardless, Hernandez put in some fine performances with Bayern Munich and should be an impact player for PSG — if he can stay healthy and if he can play with the same “burst” that he had before his latest injury.
For its part, PSG also announced the signing on its Twitter account and said the contract with Hernandez is good through 2028:
Paris Saint-Germain is delighted to announce the signing of Lucas Hernández.
The French international defender has signed a five-year contract with the Club.
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) July 9, 2023
Looking for the latest transfer talk? The Weekend Warm-up Podcast has you covered on Spotify or below. We hit on Harry Kane’s potential move to Bayern Munich, the uncertain statuses of Noussair Mazraoui, Sadio Mané, Marcel Sabitzer, and Ryan Gravenberch — plus what might be in store for Leon Goretzka in the coming weeks!
