It is not surprising to see Bayern Munich virtually absent from all the action of the January transfer market. The club hierarchy has repeatedly given a vote of confidence to the current squad depth and refused to spend money on mid-season deals.
At least the "internal winter signings" in Hiroki Ito, Jamal Musiala and Alphonso Davies have returned and made an immediate impact on the first team. Bayern will also wait on the "signatures" of other pending injured players, in Konrad Laimer and Raphael Guerreiro.
Jokes aside, this is an optimal decision from the board to maintain squad balance and build on the winning culture from the first half of the season.
Max Eberl and Christoph Freund also decided to keep Sacha Boey and Leon Goretzka, two players anticipated to be on the chopping block this winter. Despite attracting interest from multiple European sides, they will stay at least until the end of the campaign.
Bayern focused on transfers of youth players
Bayern did, however, make some moves for the future. 18-year-old Bara Sapoko Ndiaye was signed on loan from the African side Gambinos Stars. The young striker will have half a season to prove himself before further judgment. Gambinos Stars, based in Gambia, is a joint-venture football academy between Bayern Munich and Los Angeles FC.
Die Roten concluded the deadline day by finalizing a few loan deals involving academy graduates.
The most notable one was stand-out midfielder Filipe Chavez's six-month loan to fellow Bundesliga side FC Cologne, where he is expected to get more playing time and develop. The Peruvian wonderkid has made two appearances for Bayern this season in the league and impressed in the friendlies.
Midfielder Javier Fernandez also secured a loan deal to 2. Bundesliga side Nurnberg. The 19-year-old Spaniard has struggled with injury but is now finally looking back on track to break into the first team. Bayern Munich also extended Fernandez's contract until 2028.
Elsewhere, 19-year-old talent Adin Licina left permanently for Juventus. Hopefully, this is not another Kenan Yildiz story, as Bayern also secured a 30 per cent sell-on clause and a matching right, according to Florian Plettenberg.
Bayern Munich loanees Bryan Zaragoza and Daniel Peretz have both found new homes. Italian side AS Roma has decided to take over Zaragoza's loan deal at Celta Vigo with an obligation to buy. Meanwhile, Southampton secured Peretz after Bayern terminated the loan with Hamburg, as the goalkeeper did not get adequate playing time in the German top flight.