Bayern Munich continues to be aggressive in the early stages of the summer transfer window. The German giants initially added versatile defender Hiroki Ito to the squad after they triggered his $25 million release clause from Stuttgart. They then quickly agreed a deal with Crystal Palace star Michael Olise. The attacker was previously tracked by several top clubs across Europe. Bayern will pay around $75 million for their new winger.
New reports now claim that the Bundesliga club is set to sign Joao Palhinha from Fulham. The highly-rated defensive midfielder looked certain to sign with Bayern last summer, only for a deal to ultimately collapse. Nevertheless, BBC is reporting that a new agreement is now in place between the two teams. The German side is expected to pay the Cottagers $54 million for the Portuguese star. Another $5 million could also be included in the deal based on specific add-ons.
Bayern is making these massive moves as they look to rebound from a disappointing 2023/24 season. The club has typically dominated the Bundesliga for more than a decade. Bayern previously collected 11 consecutive German top-flight titles. However, Bayer Leverkusen shocked the sports world by winning the most recent league championship.
Not only did Leverkusen remain undefeated for the entire campaign, but they topped Bayern by 18 total points. The typical Bundesliga winners ultimately finished third in the final standings. Bayern brass is taking the initiative to help correct last season’s issues by making significant squad alterations this summer.
By signing additional players, the Germans will almost certainly have to sell a few stars as well. For instance, Bayern has already sanctioned a deal to offload USMNT midfielder Malik Tillman to PSV Eindhoven. They will also likely look to potentially sell either Leroy Sane or Serge Gnabry due to the addition of Olise.
Bayern’s summer targets are also quite interesting. They have already signed Ito from Stuttgart, a team that finished above them in the table. The German giants are also specifically targeting Leverkusen defender Jonathan Tah as well. If successful in the latter deal, Bayern is getting better, while also weakening their biggest rivals in the table.
Top teams such as Bayern can correct down seasons by just spending more money. This makes Cinderella stories such as Leverkusen, Leicester City in 2015/16 or Monaco in 2016/17 so rare these days. Big clubs tend to just buy players from these smaller sides following their successes, making repeats virtually impossible.
Despite possibly losing Tah, Leverkusen will work hard to hold on to most of their core group. They also persuaded star manager Xabi Alonso to resist a switch to Liverpool this summer. Nevertheless, it will be tough for the club to repeat as Bundesliga champions as Bayern splashes the cash on new star players. There are still nearly two months remaining in the transfer window and Bayern do not look like slowing down their spending anytime soon.
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