This is not necessarily the best news for Bayern.
In this context, I am also surprised that Jules Kounde seems to be at most 2-3 on the list of priorities for almost all big clubs…
I thought it was unrealistic for Kounde to form a defender duo with Thiago Silva due to his small size. That would really be very atypical for a PL club.
Maybe Juve will invest millions in De Ligt and sign Kounde?
–
For Bavaria this would even be very good news
1. Chelsea are considered the most serious representatives for a De Ligt signing alongside Bayern. If they are out of the running, Juve can no longer compete with Chelsea when it comes to the transfer claim.
2. Napoli would have called for a significantly higher fee at Juve as a direct competitor at Koulibaly than at Chelsea now. The more Juve has to pay for a replacement candidate, the more they want for De Ligt and to have as much profit as possible, since the money should be used for other positions.
3. If Pavard does not extend and wants to leave the club, Juve would be another potential customer. I’m aware that player cheating is only 95% a media thing, but I can still imagine it could end up being Pavard +30m or so.
————————————————————
From Chelsea’s point of view, I’m rather skeptical about the transfer, Koulibaly is a strong IV, but far too expensive for the price asked, especially the salary. He’s already 31, so you probably couldn’t generate a fee anymore and internationally he doesn’t have the huge history vA at the highest international level. He has just 2 KO games in the CL and 3 in the EL to show.
I also have slight concerns about his body, on the one hand it can of course happen that he plays like Thiago Silva until old age, but I myself would rather guess the case of Boateng, in which a physical decline was noticeable relatively quickly. I think Kouli will have a good to strong first season, but after that he will be more and more forgotten.
–
Very good reasoning.
The question is whether Chelsea still have a need, even if Koulibaly is brought in. Otherwise, the staffing level is relatively thin in terms of quality.
In my view, Pavard will only leave us IF Gnabry does not extend the contract and is therefore sold. There will be no departure from Pavard & Gnabry, otherwise you would have to become active again on the transfer market. Therefore, this decision will take an incredible amount of time unless Gnabry extends it in the next few days.
With Koulibaly, I’m also extremely insecure. In Naples he was sometimes “the” star and now in old age he goes to the PL with little international experience, where at Chelsea the claim is to play all the titles. If he doesn’t perform immediately despite getting used to it, the “downward spiral” will follow immediately and at his age, the club will have little patience. In fact, it could go haywire at most.
–
There are several reports that Aké will become the second new IV at Chelsea. So I don’t think Chelsea are trying to straddle De Ligt any more.
As reported by today’s Sportbild, the Pavard side and Bayern are currently talking about extending the contract and saying goodbye in the summer. Pavard would like to be the defensive boss at a top club and preferably Bayern, of course, but those responsible do not trust him with this role, which is why she wants De Ligt. Pavard now has to decide for himself whether he wants to extend his contract as a rotation player (no top salary) or try to reach his goal at another top club such as Juve. If this is the case and there is a corresponding offer, Bayern will not put any obstacles in Pavard’s way. With Nianzou, Stanisic and C.Richards you have internal options and an external option would also be easier to implement.
This has absolutely nothing to do with Gnabry, you have already received some good income and with Lewy, Zirkzee, Sabitzer, C.Richards…. more can come. In addition, you have “more money” available because you no longer consider the Corona storage as necessary.
——————————–
It’s a different position, but the whole thing reminds me a lot of Lukaku, where immense sums were put on the table, which the player couldn’t do justice to.
–
The media write anyway that De Ligt does not want to go to Chelsea and only to Bayern. Whether that’s true remains to be seen, of course, but Chelsea can’t play poker for too long either.
The Pavard and Gnabry personnel are very closely related.
Nagelsmann would like to set up the squad for both systems: The 4-3-3 (or 4-2-1-3) and the 5-3-2.
While Mazraoui is probably most likely to play the role of full-back in the back four and Pavard has played this role at Bayern for years, Gnabry is number one as a “wing defender” in the back five (it is also rumored that he didn’t like this role at all /pleases).
This gives maximum variability between the systems.
4er Kette von li nach re: Davies/Hernandez – Hernandez/Upamecano – De Ligt/Pavard – Mazraoui/Pavard
Depending on form/injury/recovery, you can always fill 4 positions out of these 6 players WITHOUT losing a lot of quality.
5er Kette: Davies/Hernandez/Coman – Hernandez/Upamecano – De Ligt/Upamceano – Upamecano/Pavard – Gnabry/Pavard/Mazraoui
I can’t imagine selling Gnabry and Pavard and thus starting the season for both systems with Mazroui & Stanisic, or it would mean a very high risk.
In addition, there is the current desert landscape of right defenders.
I also strongly assume that Zirkzee, Richards will definitely be sold and preferably also Sabitzer and Sarr (although that will be difficult).
–
1. Pavard is almost never planned as a full-back and is mainly used as an IV in a back three or four.
2. How do you know that Mazraoui isn’t also planned as a right rail player? He definitely has what it takes to do that.
3. Not Gnabry but Coman is the first option as a RAV alternative.
4. The position of MS, which Gnabry could also fill from time to time, becomes vacant precisely because of Lewy’s supposed departure.
RV: Mazraoui, Stanisic
RAV: Mazraoui, Coman
As I said, I see absolutely no connection between the two. Even if Gnabry were to leave, that definitely doesn’t mean Pavard has to stay. In addition, you can always strike again externally at any time. Nagelsmann in particular would like to see more fresh blood in the squad.
–
