Looking from the outside in, Bayern Munich appeared to enjoy a highly productive transfer window with Thomas Tuchel enjoying the backing of the board. The marquee signing of Harry Kane was one of the biggest deals of the summer in world football, and that move was supported by the signings of defenders- Kim Min-jae, Raphael Guerreiro, and central midfielder Konrad Laimer.
The Bayern bosses were also ready to grant Tuchel’s wish for a new defensive midfielder with the German champions agreeing to a deal with Fulham for the transfer of João Palhinha, with the Portuguese defensive midfielder completing his medical and even posing with the club shirt, only for the deal to fall through at the 11th hour.
The collapse of the deal had everything to do with Fulham failing to land a replacement and nothing to do with Board boss Jan-Christian Dreesen or technical director Marco Neppe, who did all they could.
Tuchel comments causing total incomprehension among Bayern bosses
Bayern manager spoke to Sky before his side’s 2-1 win over Borussia Mönchengladbach, making it three wins from three games in the Bundesliga.
"“The squad is a bit thin, a bit small. We have six trained defensive players for a four-man chain, which is perfect.”"
According to a report in BILD, that statement was met with complete incomprehension by Bayern bosses with the report suggesting that ‘Tuchel is playing a very dangerous game with his repeated negative statements’.
If you’ve followed Tuchel’s career, you’ll know that the manager has previously had issues in terms of his relationship with bosses, usually revolving around transfers. We detailed some of this earlier today in the Kepa article.
Details in the article indicate that bosses have been left frustrated with the constant calls for a defensive midfielder. Considering he has Joshua Kimmich at his disposal I can understand that stance, especially now the transfer window has closed.
Tuchel chose to prioritise a holding midfielder over defensive reinforcements
Once the decision had been made to allow Benjamin Pavard and Ryan Gravenbach to leave the club, a meeting was held whereby Tuchel, CEO Dreesen, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, and Uli Hoeneß met in President Herbert Hainer’s office to decide what to do with the funds. Knowing the team was short in defence, Tuchel pushed for Bayern to sign the holding midfielder, which they tried to do with the Palhinha deal.
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It’s also reported by Bild that Tuchel’s tendency to change his opinion on players has ‘irritated’ the sport committee, with the paper referencing João Cancelo, a player who was on loan last year at Bayern, but ended up signing for Barcelona on loan on transfer deadline day.
This is all based on the report in BILD, but rumours like this continue to follow Tuchel.