Sokratis Papastathopoulos hopeful about Bayern Munich transfer
Bayern Munich have been unfortunate with injuries in defense during the first three months of the season. The Bavarian club’s failure to sign a replacement for Benjamin Pavard has left them short of options in central defense. Thomas Tuchel suffered another setback in this position before the international break.
Dayot Upamecano has been ruled out for four to six weeks due to an injury he sustained against Freiburg ten days ago. The French defender is likely to be back in action by the end of November. Meanwhile, Matthijs de Ligt has resumed training with the first team after spending four weeks on the sidelines due to a knee injury.
As things stand, Bayern currently has only one fit senior center-back- Kim Min-jae. De Ligt is expected to be ready for the game against Mainz, but Die Roten will have to carefully manage his playing time after the knee injury. The Dutch defender may have no other option but to play every game due to Upamecano’s injury layoff.
Bayern explored the possibility of bringing Jerome Boateng back to the club, but the intense scrutiny from fans due to Boateng’s ongoing court cases for assault stopped this signing. The German defender is still training at Sabner Strasse until he finds a new club. Die Roten will not be changing their decision despite Upamecano’s injury.
However, one experienced former Bundesliga defender is hopeful about getting a call from Bayern. According to Sky Sports in Germany, former Borussia Dortmund center-back Sokratis Papastathopoulos is anticipating a call from Die Roten due to injury problems in the defensive department of the squad.
Sokratis is a free agent after his contract expired at Olympiacos in the summer. He rejected a move to Real Betis in the hope of getting a short-term deal at Bayern. However, the record Bundesliga champions are yet to open talks with the Greek defender.
The 35-year-old defender knows Thomas Tuchel’s system as the duo worked together at Borussia Dortmund. Bayern were previously expected to make a move for a versatile defender in January to fill the void left by Pavard, but a short-term deal for Sokratis may help them to delay that transfer until the summer window.
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Tuchel was eager to get Boateng in the squad after he had to field a center-back pairing of Noussair Mazraoui and Leon Goretzka in DFB Pokal due to injuries for all three senior central defenders. It will not be surprising to see if he forces the club’s hand again to sign Sokratis. It is not the ideal transfer for Rekordmeister, but one they may need right now.