Right now, Bayern Munich’s summer transfer priorities are two-fold; agree on a deal with VfB Stuttgart to buy striker Nick Woltemade and find a replacement winger for having missed out on Florian Wirtz since he chose to go to Liverpool from Bayer Leverkusen. Negotiations with Stuttgart could take a decent amount of time, but the player has made it clear he only wants to leave the Swabians for Bayern.
While the focus has been on Woltemade and a top-class winger to make up for missing out on Wirtz, Bayern is still keeping their eyes and ears open for other areas of the pitch, too. Vincent Kompany could also look to strengthen his defense, especially since Alphonso Davies is out injured until midway through the 2025/26 season and Kim Min-jae’s future with the club still is not entirely clear.
Per information from Foot Mercato journalists Sébastien Denis and Dahbia Hattabi (via @iMiaSanMia), Bayern is showing interest in RB Leipzig defender Castello Lukeba. Both Liverpool and Tottenham are also said to be interest in the 22-year-old Frenchmen who has been with Leipzig since the summer of 2023, when he joined from Lyon.
Lukeba is open to leaving Leipzig this summer and he currently has a 90-million-euro release clause in his contract with Die Roten Bullen that runs through June 2029. Since he’s joined Leipzig, he’s been a regular starter under Marco Rose, though a thigh injury saw him miss a fair amount of matches this season in what was an underwhelming campaign for Leipzig, finishing seventh in the Bundesliga after a fourth place finish in the 2023/24 season.
For Bayern, potentially taking things a step further with Lukeba will likely depend on what winds up happening with Kim Min-jae. He could be sold this summer, especially with the concerns he has with his persistent Achilles tendon problem that saw him play through a great deal of pain for most of this past season. If he does wind up leaving, Lukeba could be a decent replacement option, especially considering there is an understanding between Leipzig and the Frenchmen that he could leave the club for a reduced fee due to them missing out on Champions League qualification for next season. He would very much prefer to be playing in Europe’s biggest club competition.
Bayern Munich could be getting serious about Liverpool FC attacker Luis Díaz. Would the left-wing be a fit...and affordable? Transfermarkt values the attacker at €70 million, but how much would Bayern Munich pay? Where do things stand with Bayern Munich and VfB Stuttgart’s Nick Woltemade? Why did Bayern Munich — allegedly — pitch a last minute offer to Borussia Dortmund for Jamie Gittens. Bayern Munich will take on Paris Saint-Germain in the Club World Cup and there is...bad blood? Let’s talk about why this match up will tell us about the mettle of the Bavarians at this stage of the season. You can get the podcast on Patreon, Acast, Spotify, any leading podcast distributor, or below:
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