Bayern Munich remain keen admirers of Bradley Barcola amid reports of Real Madrid interest in Michael Olise.
Christian Falk reports for CF Bayern Insider that the France international is on the shortlist as a potential option to replace their No.17 in case he departs for La Liga.
The expectation remains that the right-sided winger will stay put at the Allianz Arena this summer.
It’s worth emphasising that FC Bayern’s hands (or, more specifically, director of sport Max Eberl’s) are tied in the current market.
PSG’s reportedly eye-opening asking price for Barcola means the reigning Bundesliga champions can’t be considered serious suitors for the Ligue 1 star this summer.
“It is true: Bradley Barcola is one of the names on the shortlist at Bayern Munich if they have to replace Michael Olise,” Falk confirmed.
“I reported last summer that there was an idea to sign the France international anyway. Even the summer before, the 23-year-old was considered a very interesting player for FC Bayern.
“He’s on the shortlist, but at the moment there is no chance of getting this player for the club. That’s because PSG want to give the winger a new contract, and amounts in the region of €150m have been floated if the Ligue 1 champions were to sell the player.
“However, when you look at the situation – and, as we say, Bayern don’t want to sell Olise this summer – the club has to think about the Frenchman’s situation if he doesn’t sign a contract with Bayern.”
More to the point, Bayern have to sell before they can re-engage with the summer transfer window, with Joao Palhinha the obvious candidate to generate some cash.
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But even at that point, there appears to be internal acceptance that this would only grant the Bavarians the wiggle room to complete a more modest transfer – most likely for right-back Givairo Read at Feyenoord.
Things dramatically change for Bayern, of course, if Michael Olise suddenly becomes available on the market this summer.
At that point, Vincent Kompany’s men will have a key spot to fill and, critically, the funds in place to bring a marquee signing like Bradley Barcola on board.
However, as Christian Falk points out, it’s somewhat more likely that Olise stays put in Munich for the time being. Then, perhaps, this story becomes live once again next year if his international compatriot is still filing out at Parc des Princes with a year left on his contract.
“When you look at Bradley Barcola’s contract, you see he’s got a year less left on his terms compared to his international teammate (running out in 2028),” the head of BILD said.
“So, if he isn’t sold this summer to Liverpool, who are clearly interested, or to another club that can afford the asking price, and he’s still on the market – and assuming that Bayern are forced to sell Michael Olise – with one year left on his contract next summer, then PSG have a decision to make.
“I personally think he’s a player who would fit in perfectly at Bayern Munich. That’s also partly due to his affordable salary demands (currently earning €7m-8m gross in Paris, which is half of what Olise earns at Bayern). So, he’s one to keep an eye out for as a potential replacement in case Michael Olise leaves.”
From a Liverpool perspective, it seems it’s very much in our own interests to escalate our Barcola interest to completion in the current window. Certainly before circumstances enable additional suitors to enter the race.
There may be an implicit assumption among some corners that the Premier League’s attraction will outweigh that on offer over in Germany.
However, we do have some concerns that the English top-flight’s evolution to more combative, physically demanding football presents an issue for footballers who appreciate the more relaxing tendencies of European football.
In the Bundesliga, Barcola will be able to enjoy domestic football played at a more leisurely pace, in a league dominated by FC Bayern. This, in turn, allows such footballers to better get the most out of playing on the highest stage in the Champions League.
There are no such guarantees in England, and Liverpool would do well to remember this if they start coming round to the idea of waiting a year.
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At the asking price Barcola is not an option/indeed LFC would be funding the purchase of Diomande (if he does go to PSG) and that is just stupid. As far as Olise is concerned we missed the boat again there earlier on…and it would appear that as opposed to before our disastrous EPL last season when arguably we were seen as the next best destination after Real Madrid – we now have Arsenal and PSG as possibly in the eyes of some better destinations than LFC/this has to be put down to something…for me it is a poor buying management team…we have had the need of an aggressive hard tackling/take no prisoners midfielder for 3 seasons now….added to that we need two more fullbacks…two more wingers and a stop gap back up for Isak because of Ekitike’s injury….that means we have to sell some players to fund all that…I suggest we definitely this window sell Chiesa, Frimpong, McAllister, Gapko, Endo (and Curtis Jones if he does not want to be a backup squad player, and Harvey Elliott if he fails to impress Iraola)…all of those sales sales should generate between £200-250! Enough to cover most of the needed purchases. YNWA.
Come 1 September I won’t be suprised Liverpool hasn’t signed anymore players this wasting of time is just a delaying tactic you can’t tell me only two players are there to play right wing for us for past 2 months was Yan nothing came out of that now is Bradley are we only looking for 1 position what about DM or RB teams are strengthening while we’re busy with 1 player watch the space this window will close with only Victor our new player
Complete and utter waste of time for players who are outrageously over valued.
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