After a frugal transfer window, Bayern Munich could be prepared to spend big next summer. Here are five wingers the club should watch this season.
Julian Brandt
Bayern Munich were surprisingly frugal in this past summer’s transfer window. The club didn’t spend a single penny on immediate transfers, instead content to trim their squad and save their funds for what could be a big transfer window next summer.
Undoubtedly one of Bayern’s biggest areas of concern is their wings. Kingsley Coman and Serge Gnabry are young and provide two solid options for the future, but veterans Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben are likely in their final year at the club and will be in need of replacing.
Alphonso Davies will join in January, but despite his overwhelming potential, the 17-year-old hasn’t quite proven himself on the top level yet. Furthermore, both Coman and Gnabry have a shaky history when it comes to injury.
A trio of of Coman, Gnabry and Davies would be imposing, but not deep enough for a club like Bayern Munich. Reinforcements will be necessary. Given the club’s reluctance to spend this summer, it’s likely they’ll splash the cash in 2019, with the wing department the first area of concern.
Bayer Leverkusen’s Julian Brandt could very well be a candidate for that spot as Bayern’s fourth winger. Recently handed his nation’s number 10 jersey by Joachim Low, the 22-year-old has recently begun living up to the hype that has surrounded him for much of his young career. He featured in all 34 of Leverkusen’s Bundesliga matches last season, amassing nine goals and five assists as his team fell narrowly short of a Champions League place.
The German was then called to represent his nation in Russia over the summer. His impressive cameos were just about the only highlight of Die Mannschaft‘s time at the 2018 World Cup.
Despite his youth, Brandt is already a veteran in Germany’s top flight — this season marks his sixth consecutive playing in the Bundesliga. He’s been heavily linked with Bayern throughout these years too, but the connection is almost too easy to make.
Having grown up playing alongside the likes of Joshua Kimmich, Niklas Sule, Leon Goretzka and Serge Gnabry for the various youth levels of the German national team, swapping the BayArena for the Allianz Arena shouldn’t prove too difficult for Brandt, at least as far as interpersonal relations are concerned.
Brandt isn’t as outright pacy as Kingsley Coman or Serge Gnabry, but mentally he’s probably far quicker. He’s much more of a provider than finisher, but more than capable of doing both. He’s versatile to feature on either flank as well, and he can also do a job playing as a number ten.
Young, experienced, German, capable of playing on either flank or behind a striker and already familiar with many players on the Bayern squad, Julian Brandt is very much one for the Bavarians to keep their eyes on this season. If he proves he has what it takes to play for a top club like Bayern, the 22-year-old could very well make his move to Munich next summer.