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Bayern Munich squad preview 2024/25: Goalkeeper and Defense

With less than a week to go in the current transfer window, we preview Bayern Munich's 2024/25 squad in a three-part series starting with goalkeeper and defense

By Valenton Wallace

Bayern Munich squad celebrating in front of fans after beating Wolfsburg on matchday one of the Bundesliga.
Bayern Munich squad celebrating in front of fans after beating Wolfsburg on matchday one of the Bundesliga. / Stuart Franklin/GettyImages
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Central Defense

Similarly to much of the latter half of last season, the central defensive department is currently an area of concern. When the news broke that a decision was taken to sell Matthijs de Ligt thousands of fans signed a petition in a show of objection. In the eyes of many fans there was no justification to part ways with the team’s best defender regardless of his wages and injury concerns. Nonetheless, the 25-year-old Dutch international was recently sold to Manchester United at a loss.

The left-footed Japanese international center-back Hiroki Ito was acquired from Stuttgart to fill the void left by de ligt’s departure and also add more balance to the left-side of the defense. However, with Ito picking up an injury during a pre-season friendly, fans will have to wait until his return before drawing any conclusions. He isn’t expected to return to action until October for the earliest.

With Ito unavailable, Bayern are once again relying on the pairing of Kim Min-jae and Dayot Upamecano. This duo played together throughout most of the first half of last season. However, during the second half of the season both players lost form and were replaced in the starting lineup by Matthijs de Ligt and Eric Dier. With Dier having just been acquired from Tottenham in January it was both a pleasant surprise and a relief to see the Englishman working so well in tandem with the Dutchman.

Errors and poor judgement cost Upamecano and Min-jae their starting places last season. Of the two, Min-jae had the better overall season, but one wouldn’t think that based on his performance in this season’s opener against Wolfsburg. Moving forward, fans will be hoping that both players show marked improvement and that the addition of players like Ito and Palhinha will help them to recapture their best form.

With Min-jae, Upamecano, and Dier being the only fit senior center-backs currently available, a late move in the current transfer window for someone like Jonathan Tah can’t be ruled out.

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