(@fcbayern)
- 15 Apr 2024
Bayern Munich’s squad will be weaker next season, claims former star
Stefan Bienkowski
- 31 May 2021 16:02 BST
- 5 min read
Former Bayern Munich star Stefan Effenberg believes the club’s squad will be weaker than last season’s title-winning team unless major investment is put into it this summer.
The Bavarian giants recently won their night, consecutive title but were eliminated from the Champions League at the quarter-final stage and conceded the German Cup to Borussia Dortmund.
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As well as that, Bayern have had to contend with losing head coach Hansi Flick, along with key players like David Alaba, Jerome Boateng and Javi Martinez.
And while the club have signed RB Leipzig central defender Dayot Upamecano and manager Julian Nagelsmann for next season, Effenberg fears the club are going backwards in terms of quality on the pitch.
Effenberg: Bayern will face a bigger challenge than they might think
“Will Bayern also win its tenth championship title in a row next season? I’m working on the assumption that they will,” said Effenberg to t-online.
“However, they have to make sure that they stop conceding so many goals. That is the only shortcoming at Bayern and at the same time a bigger challenge than you might think.
“They have to compensate for the departure of [Davod] Alaba, [Jerome] Boateng and [Javi] Martinez. The signing of Dayot Upamecano from RB Leipzig is a top transfer. But it is not enough.
“In order to replace two world-class defenders and an internationally experienced defensive player like Martínez on a one-to-one basis and at the same time become more stable, further reinforcements are needed.
“After ex-president Uli Hoeness, who of course is still very well placed to judge, ruled out major transfers, there is a question mark here for me.
“As things stand, the squad is weaker than it was last season. In addition, Gerland is a very important factor for good cooperation between coach and team.
“I still know him personally from our years together in Munich and know the role he played at the club with his human qualities and high level of professional competence. This departure will still hurt Bayern.”
