I can’t be the only one feeling like the past few transfer seasons have been, well, boring. Luckily for us, a lackluster season brings us a busy summer, full of rumors, signings, and, at least for me, a giant headache. So as your resident Bayern-fan-who-spends-too-much-time-on-the-Internet, I will spare you the introduction and jump right in.
In?
Nils Petersen: It was reported in “Süddeutsche Zeitung” on Thursday that Petersen has agreed to a 3-year-deal. The 21-year-old (as of this Friday, alles gute, Nils!) Energie Cottbus star is the leading goal scorer in 2.Buli and the transfer fee falls in the 2.5m range. I’ve read some different on Twitter and the general consensus I’m picking up is that this is a “bad” move for the striker. Assuming Miroslav Klose makes his exit at the end of the season, Bayern is left with three strikers – Gomez, Olic, and Petersen. With a new coach coming in, it’s not as easy to guess who will be starting in the front. The obvious choice in Gomez, given his season and Olic’s injury, but we could even adopt a 4-4-2 system. It’s a little early to be making assumptions that Petersen will be riding the bench. And, well, he’s got three years to prove himself.
Fabio Coentrão: The Benfica left-back would solve our main problem on the defensive line, that’s for sure, and we were attached to him last summer, however I think this story is a bit more cloudy than what is being reported right now. Goal.com is claiming they have an “exclusive” on his signing, and that Bayern has entered negotiations regarding his transfer (for a fee of 17.5m). Coentrão has a contract until 2016, and a buy out clause that is closer to 30m. There was rumored interest in the Portuguese international by Chelsea and Real Madrid. Filing this under: I-won’t-believe-it-until-pen-hits-paper.
Gregory van der Wiel: The Ajax right-back has a similar story to Coentrão, so I’ll spare you. About a month ago it was reported that we were on the verge of signing him for 10m. I’m not a fan of Eredivisie, so I don’t know first hand, but I’ve heard he has had a lackluster season. If he were to arrive in Munich, we would see our Kapitän switch to the left. It’s important to note that Arjen Robben has endorsed VdW, and we all know how much we like to cater to the king of the wing. Filing this under: Ehhhh.
Centerback? This is a bit of a catchall. Obviously we are in need of a central defender. With Breno on his way out, we’ll only have two true CBs in DvB and Holger Badstuber. We’ve been attached to a series of names, but the one that has stuck the most in Jerome Boateng. The German international currently plays for Manchester City, who is (reportedly) adamant about not selling him. So, we’re just going to leave this open because, quite frankly, at this point I would take just about anyone.
Other names that are important to remember:
Marco Reus, Arturo Vidal, and now apparently Dale Jennings and Okay Yokuşlu. Okay, media. Okay.
Out?
Thomas Kraft has signed with Hertha Berlin, who have just been promoted to first division.
Andreas Ottl is also out of contract and is rumored to be following the goalkeeper to the capital.
Hamit Altintop is attracting interest from…Real Madrid? Los Blancos? Que? Yeah, I’m not going to get in to this. I can sympathize with a Turkish fixation, but Altintop? Madrid? Ay dios mio!
Miroslav Klose is one of two wild cards out of all of this. He is out of contract as well, and wants an extra two years. The rumor is that Bayern will offer him one year, but the signing of Petersen would say otherwise. So who knows where he’ll end up? Staying fit for the Euro Cup in 2012 is a top priority for him, and I can’t see him leaving the country. We’ll wait and see.
Mehmet Ekici is a tough transfer to swallow. He has a contract with us until 2012, and has been on loan to 1. FC Nuremberg all season. His loan has been extremely successful (I would put it almost on par with Kroos’ season with Leverkusen), and he has attracted interest from a few Bundesliga clubs. It is reported he’ll transfer to Werder Bremen for a fee of 5m.
And you guessed it; Breno is the last wild card. If you all remember, following that match in March, he tweeted about leaving the club and returning to São Paulo. All signs point to him leaving the club. I just hope we can get back half of what we paid for him.
Now, am I forgetting anyone?
Didn’t think so.
Gregory van der Wiel: The Ajax right-back has a similar story to Coentrão, so I’ll spare you. About a month ago it was reported that we were on the verge of signing him for 10m. I’m not a fan of Eredivisie, so I don’t know first hand, but I’ve heard he has had a lackluster season. If he were to arrive in Munich, we would see our Kapitän switch to the left. It’s important to note that Arjen Robben has endorsed VdW, and we all know how much we like to cater to the king of the wing. Filing this under: Ehhhh.
Centerback? This is a bit of a catchall. Obviously we are in need of a central defender. With Breno on his way out, we’ll only have two true CBs in DvB and Holger Badstuber. We’ve been attached to a series of names, but the one that has stuck the most in Jerome Boateng. The German international currently plays for Manchester City, who is (reportedly) adamant about not selling him. So, we’re just going to leave this open because, quite frankly, at this point I would take just about anyone.
Other names that are important to remember:
Marco Reus, Arturo Vidal, and now apparently Dale Jennings and Okay Yokuşlu. Okay, media. Okay.
Out?
Andreas Ottl is also out of contract and is rumored to be following the goalkeeper to the capital.
Hamit Altintop is attracting interest from…Real Madrid? Los Blancos? Que? Yeah, I’m not going to get in to this. I can sympathize with a Turkish fixation, but Altintop? Madrid? Ay dios mio!
Miroslav Klose is one of two wild cards out of all of this. He is out of contract as well, and wants an extra two years. The rumor is that Bayern will offer him one year, but the signing of Petersen would say otherwise. So who knows where he’ll end up? Staying fit for the Euro Cup in 2012 is a top priority for him, and I can’t see him leaving the country. We’ll wait and see.
Mehmet Ekici is a tough transfer to swallow. He has a contract with us until 2012, and has been on loan to 1. FC Nuremberg all season. His loan has been extremely successful (I would put it almost on par with Kroos’ season with Leverkusen), and he has attracted interest from a few Bundesliga clubs. It is reported he’ll transfer to Werder Bremen for a fee of 5m.
And you guessed it; Breno is the last wild card. If you all remember, following that match in March, he tweeted about leaving the club and returning to São Paulo. All signs point to him leaving the club. I just hope we can get back half of what we paid for him.
Now, am I forgetting anyone?
as fond as I am of Hamit Altintop, I can't see that he has anything to offer Real Madrid. He's really no more versatile or impressive than say, Granero, and Granero is much younger. I'd have filed that under misdirection re: Real Madrid's pursuit of Nuri Sahin if that deal weren't already finalized. probably just crazytalk rumors.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on the lackluster opinion about van der Wiel. I'd rather we get a solid CB than waste our money on a so-so player that would force Lahm to switch sides.