Conclusion
Looking back to the 2019/20 season, Bayern only paid a total of €211 million on salaries. How did the club wage bill become so bloated? It began with the transfer of Leroy Sane, when the old regime decided to reward the big signing with €15 million annually. This contract gave an absurd amount of leverage to other players at the club when negotiating future contracts. Kingsley Coman, Serge Gnabry, Alphonso Davies, and Joshua Kimmich all gave the board a hard time in contract talks using that Sane deal as the starting point. The board surely did not want to overinflate the salary structure, but could not afford to lose those key players.
Max Eberl and Christoph Freund are working to balance out the excessive pay packet, a remnant of past management. It takes radical decisions and a tougher stance to streamline the payroll. However, this does not mean not paying your best guys and letting them leave. It is about paying on merit and retaining the players who want to fight for the badge, not just working for a weekly salary.