Bayern Munich sporting director Christoph Freund made a clear statement. “That’s over,” Freund said to Sky ahead of the club’s game against Union Berlin on Wednesday (1-0) when asked about negotiations with Newcastle United over right-back Kieran Trippier. “We only do what we are 100% convinced of; that’s what we’ve always said. All parameters have to fit for the player, for us, and for the selling club, and that wasn’t the case. The Trippier topic is over.”
Just like that, the transfer saga was over. But Bayern Munich still has other targets in mind when it comes to strengthening the backline. “Yes,” Freund said when asked whether the club was still interested in Nordi Mukiele. The former RB Leipzig and now PSG right-back then remains on Bayern’s radar with a little over a week left in the January transfer window.
That last week of the transfer window will now see some heightened urgency at the Säbener Straße after the Union Berlin game in which defender Dayot Upamecano suffered a hamstring injury. “It’s classic: grab the back of your thigh while sprinting, then we can all imagine the rest,” Bayern head coach Thomas Tuchel said after the game when asked about Upamecano’s injury. “If things go well, just a strain, and if things go badly, then a tear.”
Then, after the game, it also emerged that Konrad Laimer and Joshua Kimmich also suffered injuries. Kimmich fell on his shoulder, was treated, and then finished the game. The central midfielder will have pictures taken of the shoulder on Thursday that may determine the severity of the injury.
“No,” Tuchel said when asked whether Bayern will have to sign a new center back with Upamecano out injured. “Kim Min-Jae is coming back [from the Asia Cup]. We’ll get through this. However, we’re working on it, and we won’t panic. I’m more concerned about Konrad Laimer. We won’t abandon our strategy because of a muscle injury.”
In other words, Bayern remains in the market for new players. But that market is difficult to navigate in January. Furthermore, the club going after the likes of Eric Dier, Kieran Trippier, and now Nordi Mukiele signals something else entirely.
As pointed out by Stefan Bienkowski on the Gegenpressing Podcast on Wednesday, those signings are short-term fixes, perhaps to buy time for sporting director Freund and new director of sport Max Eberl—once he is appointed—to come up with a more overarching and long-term transfer strategy.
Indeed, it all feels like patchwork at Bayern now as the club tries to fix holes left in the squad after a disastrous summer transfer window. But perhaps there is more to the story. Filling in the holes with cheap squad players could also be a part of the strategy that will see a more general overhaul of what feels like a quiet squad this upcoming summer.
It is important to note here that Bayern will host the 2025 Champions League final at the Allianz Arena. Internally, that final is seen as an opportunity to right the wrong of the lost 2012 final to Chelsea.
With that in mind, the squad is currently in transition, and while a significant piece in Harry Kane is already in place, more long-term pieces are likely to arrive in the summer. That, in turn, also means that the next few months could be bumpy and might even result in Bayern losing out on the Bundesliga title to Bayer Leverkusen. But that, too, might be acceptable for the greater good of winning it all in 2025.
Manuel Veth is the host of the Bundesliga Gegenpressing Podcast and the Area Manager USA at Transfermarkt. He has also been published in the Guardian, Newsweek, Howler, Pro Soccer USA, and several other outlets. Follow him on Twitter: @ManuelVeth and on Threads: @manuveth