The Senegalese Sadio Mané and the Dutchman Matthijs de Ligt should also lead Bayern to international titles. Sports director Hasan Salihamidzic is consolidating his position with the transfers.
Matthijs de Ligt is the second most expensive transfer in Bayern Munich’s history. The Dutchman should stabilize the defensive.
Munich is currently an Eldorado for paparazzi. Just a few weeks ago, the attentive photographers ambushed the winger Sadio Mané when he arrived in Munich to sign his contract with FC Bayern. At the beginning of the week, the spectacle was repeated with another leading actor: photos were taken of Dutchman Matthijs de Ligt, who also came to Munich to sign working papers.
It almost goes without saying that both personalities also claim a certain news value away from the boulevard: Both Mané, the former Liverpool player, and the former Juventus professional de Ligt belong to the category of players that is commonly referred to as world class.
So FC Bayern bought it. And on a grand scale. Not only the two internationals from Liverpool and Turin were signed. Bayern’s sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic had previously won full-back Noussair Mazraoui and midfielder Ryan Gravenberch from Ajax Amsterdam. The Ajax school is also the footballing home of defender Matthijs de Ligt – he should therefore get along well with Gravenberch and Mazraoui on the football field.
De Ligt is the second most expensive Bayern transfer
So there are no insignificant things going on in Munich. For once, the focus in the transfer turmoil is not on England or Spain, but on the Bundesliga. Especially since one development can hardly be overlooked: Hasan Salihamidzic, Bayern’s sporting director, is gaining in stature. A year ago he was under harsh criticism because the popular coach Hansi Flick left the club in a dispute with Salihamidzic. He was also criticized for having made a huge investment in the sand with defender Lucas Hernández from Atletico Madrid: The 80 million euros that Hernández cost Bayern in transfer fees have not been amortized since 2019.
It is therefore not without a certain explosiveness that Salihamidzic is now making the second most expensive transfer in Bavaria and the Bundesliga after Hernández with de Ligt. 70 million euros in fixed transfer fee plus 10 million euros in bonus payments are rumored. The expectations that are now directed at de Ligt are correspondingly impressive. This is also due to the fact that the performance record of the Bavarian defensive by no means corresponds to the expenses that Bayern made: almost everyone who played there was expensive. Frenchman Benjamin Pavard, previously in Stuttgart, cost Bayern 35 million euros; Leipzig’s Dayot Upamecano, a compatriot of Pavard’s, cost 42 million euros. Bayern just couldn’t achieve stability.
The responsibility for this stability now rests on de Ligt’s broad shoulders. However, there is also skepticism, critics refer to the Dutchman’s time in Turin. This can be booked as dignified and unspectacular. De Ligt didn’t stand out in three seasons, nor did he embarrass his peers.
De Ligt increases the pressure on competitors
The fact that his performances in Turin did not quite live up to expectations is not surprising at second glance: the archetype of the Juventus defense, the kicking economist Giorgio Chiellini, was in many ways the opposite of what de Ligt embodies in football. While Chiellini was primarily regarded as a master of virtuoso duel leadership, de Ligt played to his strengths in the Ajax team at the age of 17 as a brilliant point guard, with excellent tackling and good positional play.
De Ligt not only has its strengths defensively.
At that time, despite his youth, he had no trouble accepting the role of leader. And in games with the Dutch national team he was certainly not the worse defender alongside Liverpool luminary Virgil van Dijk. So it cannot be ruled out that the part as a leader in Munich will suit him all the more.
Especially since de Ligt’s commitment could have a completely different effect: it should increase the pressure on the other defenders at FC Bayern enormously – and perhaps lead to Bayern giving up one of the defenders. It is not impossible that it will hit Benjamin Pavard. The Frenchman plays reliably solid, but does not stand out. The Bavarians had also expected a little more from Tanguy Nianzou, who was brought in as a teenager from Paris Saint-Germain. He has hardly any match practice, it is possible that he will be loaned out.
Surely the spending on transfers is putting Hasan Salihamidzic under a lot of pressure. However, the former Bayern midfielder has been clever in the negotiations so far. Being able to win Sadio Mané for €32m plus bonuses is nothing short of remarkable. In view of the Bavarian reports of success on the transfer market, it is almost forgotten that Robert Lewandowski finally said goodbye to FC Barcelona last weekend after much nagging. The fact that the transfer should bring Bayern a good 50 million euros eases the pain of parting. The 34-year-old attacker, who isn’t really a mood cannon anyway, would have had his troubles in Munich next season.
Actually, Bayern wanted to hold back on the transfer market
In view of the many arrivals, the message that FC Bayern should hold back on the transfer market for economic reasons seems like it was from another time. She’s not even three months old. At the time, it was said that Bayern would be looking to talented youngsters in the future in order to transfer them profitably at some point. That should give financial space for top executives.
However, the most recent commitments show a different strategy: Gravenberch is such a young player with great prospects, de Ligt is a man of international stature despite being only 22 years old, and Mané is no more and no less than a world star. It’s been a long time since there was so much glamor in Munich. Who would have thought Hasan Salihamidzic capable of that?