The poor end to the summer transfer window meant Bayern Munich had to see out the first half of the season with a thin squad. They have decent depth in attack, but options in midfield and defense are limited. The central defense and right-back are the two key areas at the back where Die Roten currently have limited options.
The injuries to Matthijs de Ligt and Dayot Upamecano in the past few weeks have further highlighted the need to strengthen the squad in January. Bayern have looked at emergency options such as Jerome Boateng and Sokratis Papastathopoulos but eventually decided against offering them contracts.
Bayern are now reportedly exploring the options to recall Josip Stanisic in January from his loan spell at Bayer Leverkusen. According to Sky Sports in Germany, Bayern are not pleased with the limited game time for the Croatian defender. They are considering bringing him back to Bavaria, but Bayer Leverkusen are determined to keep Stanisic.
Xabi Alonso’s team believes that Stanisic will get a considerable amount of game time in the second half of the season when they will be without a couple of key defenders due to AFCON. It remains to be seen if the Croatian defender wants to make a return to Munich midway through the season.
🆕 News Josip #Stanisic: FC Bayern would like to terminate the loan in the winter and bring him back early. However, it’s nearly impossible and Bayern is informed about it.
— Florian Plettenberg (@Plettigoal) October 30, 2023
➡️ Leverkusen is pleased with his performances and needs him to replace Kossounou & Tapsoba because both… pic.twitter.com/7b47VDfYDy
Josip Stanisic got a decent amount of playing time under Julian Nagelsmann at Bayern last season. He delivered good performances whenever Nagelsmann gave him starts. Die Roten were also pleased with his performances and eventually extended his contract.
The Bavarian club felt that Josip Stanisic should be playing week in, week out. Tuchel and Bayern decided to send him out on loan. However, Benjamin Pavard also left a few days later, and no defender arrived in Munich late in the window. Tuchel would have kept Stanisic in the squad if he knew that Pavard was not going to be replaced in the summer.
The Croatian defender can play in both full-back positions. He can also slot in the center of defense if needed. His versatility would have been a big boost for Tuchel in the last few weeks. If Bayern don’t have enough money to spend in January, recalling Stanisic makes a lot of sense.
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Along with strengthening the defense, Bayern also need to sign one midfielder in January. They sold Ryan Gravenberch to Liverpool on deadline day without signing a replacement. Die Roten currently have only three senior midfielders in the squad. They tried to sign Joao Palhinha from Fulham, but the transfer collapsed at the last minute. It remains to be seen if they will go back in for the Portuguese midfielder in January.