Bayern Munich just barely squeaked over the line as Bundesliga champions and look now to do everything in their power to have a far more convincing season for the 2023/24 campaign. A slight restructuring of the club’s supervisory board and front office hasn’t seemed to slow down their progress in the transfer window, despite being without a working sporting director.
Bayern’s preseason preparations under Thomas Tuchel are already less than a month away and Tuchel prefers getting the transfer business done earlier rather than later. A full, or as close to full as possible, preseason can make a world of difference for incoming players and club president Herbert Hainer recently said that the club is working extra hard in this period to plan the squad for the incoming season. A vacation, for one thing, isn’t on the cards.
“Vacation? No, it’s not that simple,” Hainer explained to Bild (via @iMiaSanMia). “We are working very hard on the squad for the coming season. There’s absolutely no doubt that our aim is to be at the top again domestically and internationally next season. We still have to work to do for that.”
That work appears to be beginning with SSC Napoli defender Kim Min-jae. For the striker position, Eintracht Frankfurt’s Randal Kolo Muani and Juventus’ Dusan Vlahovic are still big names in the conversation, but no advanced talks have begun yet with either player. Meanwhile on the midfield front, action seems to have quieted down after Bayern lost out to what will likely end up Arsenal FC for West Ham’s Declan Rice.
“So many names are being thrown around. I won’t be commenting on names, but rest assured that we’re looking around the market. We will bring suitable players to FC Bayern so that we can attack both domestically & internationally,” Hainer added. “The atmosphere is very good. We already signed two players in [Konrad] Laimer & [Raphael] Guerreiro — both very good players. Also players that we can use in both positions. They joined on a free. That means we saved money to be able to do something else later.
“We’re looking for a #9 — that’s certainly no secret. Unfortunately, it’s not that easy. There aren’t that many (on the market). And strikers who are really top are also wanted by other clubs.
“FC Bayern is still a big name. We notice that again and again when we talk to players and agents. We need to be patient.”
There’s a long way to go still in this summer’s transfer window.