Bayern Munich: Bouna Sarr not thinking about transfer in January
The January transfer window is likely to see few departures at Bayern Munich. The club hierarchy is reportedly looking to balance the recent contract renewals by listening to offers for fringe players. Moreover, these fringe players also need more playing time after a difficult first half of the season.
Bouna Sarr is one of the few players in the current squad that doesn’t have a long-term future at Die Roten. The 29-year-old full-back has struggled to get playing time under Julian Nagelsmann this season. He has managed only 125 minutes of playing time across all competitions. (Stats Courtesy: Whoscored)
Sarr is primarily seen as the backup for Benjamin Pavard in the right-back position. However, the emergence of Josip Stanisic this season has meant Sarr is now third-choice right-back in the squad. It does feel like a matter of when rather than if for Sarr to look for a move away from Bavaria.
One thing is looking certain that Die Roten will not be able to part ways with Sarr in the winter transfer window. While talking to L’Equipe this week (via iMiaSanMia), Sarr admitted that his preference is to assess the situation at Bayern in summer instead of January.
"“I never thought about leaving. I will evaluate the situation with the club in the summer. For me, my injury last season affected me. Bayern is a big club, you always have to be at the top. Bayern didn’t sign me for nothing.”"
Bouna Sarr also insisted that knee issues made it difficult for him to perform at the optimum level during his debut season in Bavaria. The former Marseille defender recently decided to represent Senegal at the international level. He is looking forward to getting playing time in January with Senegal at AFCON. His presence at AFCON is likely to delay transfer talks.
Die Roten will be hoping that Sarr performs well with Sarr. Not only he will get a much-needed confidence boost, but Sarr will also be able to challenge Pavard in the right-back position during the final four months of the season. If he doesn’t manage to get a good amount of playing time in the second half of the season, then a summer move looks inevitable.
It does look like Rekordmeister is not considering Sarr as part of their long-term plans. The defending German Champions have been consistently linked with different right-backs in the past six months. Die Roten is probably looking at a younger attacking full-back that can provide them thrust on the right side like Alphonso Davies does on the left side of the defense.
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Apart from Bouna Sarr, Mickael Cuisance and Marc Roca are other players linked with transfers away from Bavaria in January. Roca is currently getting playing time in the first team due to an injury crisis in the midfield, so he may end up staying for the rest of the season. Meanwhile, Cuisance reportedly has multiple offers on the table for the winter transfer window.