The winter transfer window is crucial for Bayern Munich as they need to strengthen their smaller squad. They will also lose a few players to the AFCON and Asian Cup, so Thomas Tuchel needs a couple of transfers to make sure that the team competes on the two fronts.
The upcoming January transfer window is also Christoph Freund’s first window with Bayern since arriving from RB Salzburg in September. Freund was chosen as the successor of Hasan Salihamidzic after his impressive work in the Red Bull setup.
The Austrian sporting director has been taking more responsibility behind the scenes in the past few weeks. He pushed for the appointment of Rene Maric in a developmental role that will help in bridging the gap between the first team and campus. Freund is also negotiating new deals with key players in the squad.
Along with signing top-quality players for Bayern, Freund is also eager to see more youth players coming from the academy getting chances in the first team. His efforts have certainly impressed the club hierarchy. While talking to Kicker this week, Uli Hoeness praised Freund and insisted that he will do great things at Bayern.
"“He’s a stroke of luck for us. He has a clear concept and FC Bayern will benefit enormously from that, especially in the youth area.”"
The Austrian sporting director oversaw the development of several top young talents at RB Salzburg. Hoeness and board members will hope to see similar work done by Freund in Munich. They cannot get into bidding wars with big Premier League clubs and state-backed clubs, so getting young talents at the right time is crucial for Die Roten.
Along with signing new players in January, Freund also needs to successfully negotiate contract talks with key players in the squad. He has opened contract talks with Alphonso Davies, while negotiations over a new deal with Leroy Sane are set to start in the coming days. Getting both players’ futures sorted is crucial since they are key players for Tuchel and Bayern.
It will be interesting to see how Freund shapes Bayern’s transfer policy. He has largely signed young players at RB Salzburg, but Die Roten also have the knack of signing stars with young players to maintain balance in the squad. The start to life in Bavaria has been impressive for Freund, but the real test for him begins in January.
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Uli Hoeness also admitted that he can see a good bond developing between Thomas Tuchel and the squad. His comments on the team environment pour cold water on the reports that suggested there were early signs of a rift between the coach and squad after the elimination from DFB Pokal at the start of November.