Immediately after the end of the Champions League, the club management of FC Bayern Munich led by CEO Oliver Kahn was confronted with the striker debate, which is gaining momentum after the second title of the season wasted. Especially since in the quarter-final duel with Manchester City, which was clearly lost 0: 3 and 1: 1, the Norwegian Erling Haaland, who scored in the first and second leg for the English soccer champions, clearly revealed the lack of a missing top nine in the Munich team. Bayern had let their top scorer Robert Lewandowski (34) move to FC Barcelona before the season.
“In the run-up to the season, we tried everything to fill the nine, even with a nine, which we saw today, but unfortunately not with us,” said Kahn on Wednesday evening with a direct reference to Haaland. The 22-year-old switched from Borussia Dortmund to Man City last summer for 75 million euros.
“It’s not that easy to fill this position. You can’t just find a number nine like Robert Lewandowski somewhere,” argued Kahn. That is also a question of price. “How many nines are there at the level of Robert Lewandowski? There aren’t many. And if so, that’s in price regions that are extremely high,” said Kahn.
Sports director Hasan Salihamidzic, as the responsible squad planner, continues to see the Munich offensive as top-ranked. He spoke of players with world-class format. But you will “rethink the composition of the squad now, of course”. The topic will also be discussed with coach Thomas Tuchel in the coming weeks. “We will then also decide the financial matters.” Salihamidzic did not want to discuss the names of candidates on Wednesday evening, but rather “calmly analyze” the situation first.
Club President and Chairman of the Supervisory Board Herbert Hainer admitted a current vacancy. “It was certainly obvious that we’re just not scoring enough goals at the moment, that we don’t have the striker who then hits things up front,” said the 68-year-old. “If you can name the one that hits the spot immediately, then we would buy it immediately,” he told reporters in the Allianz Arena. The team will be strengthened for the coming season “so that we can play for the Champions League and the title again,” assured Hainer. The solution is likely to be difficult and expensive.
