Author: Amrit Santlani
Bayern Munich, the reigning Bundesliga champions who recently won their 11th consecutive title, have signed Austrian midfielder Konrad Laimer from RB Leipzig, also in Germany. On Friday, the Bavarian club officially announced the signing, after agreeing a pre-contract with Laimer, whose contract with Leipzig expired in June and he had already decided to join the Allianz Arena club.
Laimer played 190 games for Die Roten Bullen, scoring a total of 15 goals and providing 19 assists. Known for his relentless pressing, the midfielder won two DFB Pokal titles with his former club.
Former Leipzig coach Julian Nagelsmann was looking forward to reuniting with Konrad in Bavaria, but as fate would have it, the young coach was sacked by Bayern in the middle of the season.
Thomas Tuchel, the former Chelsea and Borussia Dortmund coach, took over in Munich and Laimer became the club’s first summer arrival. He is also the most high-profile signing since the dismissal of sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic and CEO Oliver Kahn, both of whom were sacked by Bayern shortly after they won the Bundesliga title on goal difference, beating Dortmund on the final matchday.
The 26-year-old joins a star-studded midfield alongside the likes of Leon Goretzka, Joshua Kimmich and Marcel Sabitzer. The latter was on loan at Manchester United in the second half of the season, having joined Bayern from Leipzig, and his compatriot Laimer also followed suit.
The addition of Konrad would add more creativity to Tuchel’s team, as the future of Kimmich and Goretzka looks uncertain, with the former having been linked to Barcelona this summer.
The Bavarians, however, have not yet finished the transfer window and are likely to make a major acquisition of a striker who has not replaced Robert Lewandowski since the Polish striker left the club to join Barcelona after his contract expired.
Napoli talisman Victor Osimhen, Tottenham star Harry Kane and Juventus’ Dusan Vlahovic are some of the big names linked with Bayern this summer.