Bayern Munich is looking to bolster the defense for the fifth consecutive summer. The Bavarian club is forced to look for new central defenders since Benjamin Pavard and Lucas Hernandez have decided against signing new contracts. Bayern is ready to sell both French defenders this summer, as their current contracts expire in 2024.
The Bavarian club has identified Napoli’s Kim Min-jae as the top target for the center-back position. The negotiations over personal terms are moving in the right direction. Die Roten is leading the race to sign the South Korean defender. They are expected to trigger the release clause worth €50 million in his contract, which will be active during the first 15 days of July.
Along with Kim Min-jae, Bayern may look to add another center-back. According to Sport1, Die Roten remains interested in signing Pau Torres from Villarreal after signing Kim Min-jae. There have been no negotiations to sign the Spanish defender, but they are convinced that he will be the right addition to the squad.
Previously, several reports in Germany revealed that Torres had been offered to Die Roten. The Spanish defender has only one year left on his contract. Aston Villa and Juventus are also interested in him, but Bayern can beat both of them if they back their interest with a concrete bid.
Sport1 also reports that Pau Torres will cost €35-40 million this summer. The Bavarian club will look to bring down that fee since the Spaniard has only one year left on his contract. Die Roten can end up paying for Torres and Kim Min-jae from the fee obtained from the sales of Hernandez and Pavard.
Torres is a left-footed central defender that can play exquisite passes from the back. Since Hernandez (left-footed center-back) is set to leave, it makes sense for Bayern to add another defender of a similar profile to the squad. Moreover, Pavard was an option in central defense last season, so it makes sense to replace him with two players- right-back and center-back.
With the arrival of Torres and Kim Min-jae this summer, Bayern will have four center-backs for next season. For fighting across all fronts, it is necessary to have four central defenders in the squad. There will be healthy competition in the squad, which will help in extracting the best performances from all center-backs.
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Meanwhile, Bayern remains keen on signing Kyle Walker from Manchester City to add more quality in the right-back position. Pavard played in the right-back position consistently over the last four seasons, so Bayern needs to sign two players to replace him in the squad. The Bavarian club reportedly wants to offer a two-year deal to Walker with an option to extend it by one more year.