To say that Bayern Munich is in a bit of a transitional phase would be an understatement. Coming off of their first season without silverware in over a decade with a completely new manager and coaching staff in Vincent Kompany and everyone he brought with him, the Rekordmeister are looking to return to the top of the German footballing pedestal that Bayer Leverkusen so deservedly perched themselves onto last season under Xabi Alonso.
Members of the club’s front office and supervisory board have shared the sentiment that Bayern needed to have some player sales before they could add to their inbound list of Hiroki Ito, Michael Olise, and João Palhinha, and there could still be some players leaving, even after Mazraoui and De Ligt agreed deals to head to Manchester United.
In addition to all of that, Leon Goretzka’s future at Bayern under Kompany is now in question. It is now understood that Joshua Kimmich will occupy a midfield role this season instead of right-back, adding to an already crowded midfield. Kimmich, Palhinha, Aleksandar Pavlović, Konrad Laimer, and Goretzka would all be fighting for minutes in midfield, and even Raphaël Guerreiro can be used of the center of midfield as well.
In Bayern’s latest preseason friendly against Tottenham in North London, Goretzka was an unused sub on the bench for Komany, sparking the suggestion that he might be one of the odd men out in the Belgian’s plans for Bayern’s midfield this season. Per kicker’s Frank Linkesch (via @iMiaSanMia), the midfielder currently has no prospects of being in the mix for the upcoming season.
His current contract with Bayern runs through the summer of 2026, so he is in a crucial phase of if he wants to try to look for a new club the rest of the summer transfer window. The club would want to avoid a situation where he enters the last year on his contract without his mind made up.
He had previously expressed his willingness to stay at Bayern and fight for his place in the team, but his mind could have changed in recent weeks.
It is an unfortunate circumstance for a player who, just a few season’s ago alongside Kimmich, signed a contract extension with the idea of being one of the cornerstone’s of the club’s future and continued success.
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