The midfield department has been the area of concern for Bayern Munich going into the summer window. Leon Goretzka and Joshua Kimmich are first-choice midfielders, but there have been no like-for-like replacements for them in the squad. Marc Roca is still adapting to life in Bavaria, while Corentin Tolisso could be on his way out of the club.
Despite the obvious depth issues in the midfield, Die Roten has been insisting that there will be no significant additions this summer. Moreover, reports in Germany suggested in June that right-back and winger are priority positions for the club in the remaining transfer window.
In the last few days, the stance of Rekordmeister on the midfield situation has changed. According to SportBild (via iMiaSanMia), the injury to Roca has forced the club to rethink signing a midfielder. The Spaniard will be out until September due to a serious injury he suffered in training before the first pre-season game against FC Koln.
The German Champions have been heavily linked with Florian Neuhaus in 2021, but he could be expensive as Borussia Monchengladbach are under no pressure to sell. Apart from Neuhaus, Die Roten has been loosely linked with few other midfielders across Europe.
Bayern have identified the central midfield position as a position that needs to be strengthened. One of the reasons is that Marc Roca will be out until September. It remains to be seen how much money can the club spend on a new midfielder [@cfbayern, @altobelli13, @SPORTBILD]
— Bayern & Germany (@iMiaSanMia) July 27, 2021
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The injuries to Kimmich and Goretzka last season stressed the need for another quality midfielder for Die Roten. Moreover, the German club hadn’t replaced Thiago Alcantara adequately last summer as he moved to Liverpool for experiencing a new adventure.
Mickael Cuisance was replaced by Roca in the squad as the Frenchman joined Marseille on a season-long loan. Cuisance is back in Bavaria, but the club is ready to listen to offers for the young midfielder. Galatasaray had reportedly shown interest in Cuisance, but there has been no concrete offer on the table for the club to consider.
The addition of a midfielder is likely to be funded by departures. Tolisso’s departure could facilitate the club’s pursuit of a new midfielder, but the complex situation of the market due to the pandemic has made it difficult for big clubs to sell players. Things could accelerate in August when clubs will be looking to strengthen before the deadline day.
Julian Nagelsmann will be working with most of the senior players this week as they reported for training on Monday. However, Nagelsmann will be without Tolisso for upcoming friendlies and the DFB Pokal game against SV Bremen. The Frenchman has been tested positive for coronavirus after returning from vacation. He is currently isolating himself from other players.