by Bayern’s professionals leave the field after the top match (2:2) against Leverkusen in September. Image: dpa / Tom Weller
Bundesliga
The football business has clear rules. However, especially on the transfer market, these are rather unwritten. It is often said: If a player only has one year left on his contract, he should extend it otherwise he will be sold so that the club selling him can still collect a transfer fee.
Especially in recent years, the trend has been to extend an expiring contract well beyond a year before its expiration. The reason is simple: the transfer fee should not be too low due to the short duration of the contract.
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FC Bayern is currently in exactly this position. Rumors about a transfer for Alphonso Davies have been circulating for weeks. His contract expires in the summer of 2025, which is about a year and a half from now. There is probably a hot prospect in Spain with Real Madrid. The various media present have already reported several times about the interest of the Spanish record champions.
The “Relevo” portal wrote on Monday that the left-back was part of the Royals’ planning discussions and was the main transfer target. The sports newspaper “Marca” had a headline on Tuesday that Davies had refused to extend his contract with FC Bayern. This is part of Madrid’s plans.
“Sport Bild” recently reported that Real hoped to finally act as it did with the transfer of Toni Kroos in 2014.
FC Bayern: Real Madrid hope for a cheap transfer fee if Davies leaves
At the time, the German superstar moved to Real Madrid for just €25 million a year before his contract expired. The idea of the people of Madrid: If Davies moved in the summer of 2024, a year before his contract expires, the transfer fee could be reduced again and a lot of money could be saved.
Nedal Huoseh, Davies’ agent, has now commented on the recurring rumours: “It’s not correct. Phonzy is at Bayern Munich at the moment, that’s where his focus is,” he told “tz”.
The fact that Bayern now have to worry about their future under Davies looked different at the start of the year. It is said that in the spring Huoseh largely agreed with Hasan Salihamidžić, the old sporting director.
However, after Salihamidžić was removed from his post, contract negotiations were also suspended. Months of radio silence followed, which then gave rise to rumors of a departure.
On the sidelines of last Sunday’s annual general meeting, Bayern president Herbert Hainer also commented on the future of the Canadian international: “For us he has become one of the best defenders in the world, obviously we want to keep him and I hope he wants it too.”
David Alaba’s move should also be on the shoulders of Bayern’s managers. The Austrian international moved from Munich to Madrid on a free transfer in 2021 after the player and club failed to agree on a contract extension and the Munich club even withdrew their offer.
This scenario is unlikely to repeat itself with Davies. Once again the Munich team will not start the season with a top star whose contract is expiring. The maxim will therefore probably be: extension or sale.
The World Cup in Qatar in 2022 has been heavily criticized due to the human rights situation. You might think it’s a good thing that the European Championships are taking place in Germany next year. But here too there are complaints that Sylvia Schenk of Transparency International clearly addresses.
Watson: Ms Schenk, you are the coordinator of the stakeholder initiative for Euro 2024. For many this might be a cryptic term. What exactly are you doing?
