It has been a significant week for Bayern Munich when it comes to long-term squad planning. Oliver Kahn confirmed on Tuesday that Niklas Sule had rejected the contract offer and decided to leave Bavaria on a free transfer in the summer. The Bavarian club refused to meet his wage demands after opening contract talks before the winter break.
The departure of Sule will open a spot in the central defense for Rekordmeister. The negative outcome of contract talks will most likely force Die Roten to sign a central defender for the fourth consecutive summer transfer window. Going by the latest murmurs in the German media, it does look like Bayern has a list of three defenders to replace Sule.
According to SportBild’s Christian Falk, Chelsea’s Andreas Christensen is Die Roten’s first choice to replace Sule. The Danish center-back will be available on a free transfer in the summer as his contract runs down at Stamford Bridge.
Christensen will demand significant wages and signing on bonus if he leaves Chelsea in the summer. Apart from Die Roten, FC Barcelona is also interested in signing Christensen. Since Sule has confirmed his decision, Rekordmeister will be looking to negotiate with Christensen in the coming months.
True✅ @FCBayern had a contact to the Management of @MatzeGinter this week. The @DFB_Team Player is a backup if Andreas Christensen or @ToniRuediger won‘t come to Munich. Also @FCBarcelona is interested in Ginter @ChelseaFC @FCBayern @borussia #PodcastBayernInsider
— Christian Falk (@cfbayern) January 28, 2022
The second option in the list for Rekordmeister is Christensen’s club teammate Antonio Rudiger. The German international will be a free agent in the summer unless there is a breakthrough in talks with Chelsea during the next five months.
Rudiger has been linked with a move to Bavaria from the start of the season. The Bavarian club had reportedly touched base with Rudiger’s agents earlier this season. However, Die Roten will be facing competition from Real Madrid for his signature. Both defenders are yet to completely rule out staying at Chelsea.
The final option to replace Sule is Borussia Monchengladbach’s Matthias Ginter. The German defender has already confirmed his decision to leave in the summer as a free agent. Ginter will be a lesser expensive alternative to Christensen and Rudiger. Inter Milan will be the major competitor for Rekordmeister when it comes to signing Ginter in the summer transfer window.
All three options will do well to replace Sule in the current squad. They have experience of playing in the Bundesliga, so the adaptation period will not be a problem for Die Roten. In the next couple of months, the list will most likely narrow down depending on the outcome of talks with all three defenders.