Munich's best defender Niklas Süle: Why did Bayern scare this man away?

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Niklas Süle (M) against Fürth: He came, saw and stabilized

Photo:

ANDREAS GEBERT / REUTERS

In minute 90.+2 the guests from Fürth attacked again.

Afimico Pululu, the very robust left winger, was on the ball when suddenly an even more robust Niklas Süle came rushing up.

Two, three bumps, a hook at the bottom of the foot, a duel like from the training textbook, then Süle had the ball.

It wasn't a decisive scene in this 4-1 win for FC Bayern against Greuther Fürth.

But it was one of many moments on this Sunday afternoon, which made it clear with what commitment and with what joy Niklas Süle is currently on the road on his farewell tour in Munich.

On an afternoon when you also wondered why Bayern actually let someone like him go, a defender they actually need.

Why they once again alienated a player.

Süle had seen Bayern's very confused first half and Fürth's lead off the bench just before the break.

The fact that he came on after 53 minutes for Lucas Hernández, who suffered from a sore calf, did the game very well.

In the back three, with Dayot Upamecano on the left and Benjamin Pavard on the right, Süle took on the central role as chief of defence, fought for balls, excelled in overview and ensured remarkable offensive actions with dynamic solo runs.

In between, the central defender even took a corner kick, and when Joshua Kimmich kicked in a corner, he headed Robert Lewandowski to make it 3-1.

Then he laughed happily.

Süle is having a lot of fun in his last few months at Bayern, perhaps also in the liberated knowledge that his time at this club will soon be behind him.

Next summer he will move to Borussia Dortmund on a free transfer, where he should certainly have the appreciation that, surprisingly, he was sometimes denied in Munich.

Alaba and Boateng were already dismissed with a shrug

That was already the case in 2020, when after a break of almost ten months after a cruciate ligament rupture, he fought his way back into the final tournament of the Champions League and made a significant contribution to winning the title in Lisbon.

There were no corresponding appreciations from the club leaders, instead they counted him out publicly when he was wrong against Eintracht Frankfurt or allegedly weighed too much.

Süle is not the only defensive force who was recently dismissed at Bayern with a shrug of the shoulders in a rather cool mood.

Last summer it was David Alaba, who is already missing again because of his announcements as a communicator in defense.

And also Jérôme Boateng, to whom Uli Hoeneß had suggested years earlier that he could look for another club and who then won the Champions League with Bayern, as a regular player.

It is known that Alaba and Süle in particular wanted significantly more salary in their contract negotiations.

Demands that the club always replied that they were above the pain threshold.

Possibly a homegrown problem that has a lot to do with Hernández.

The French world champion of 2018, who in his almost three years didn't turn out to be a complete flop, but never really lived up to expectations.

Hernández is by far the most expensive signing in Munich club history.

It cost 80 million euros, four times as much as Süle once did.

And he ranks as far as the salary class is concerned, at the top of Bayern: reportedly somewhere between 15 and 20 million euros.

Media reports of annual earnings of as much as 24 million euros could be denied by both the consultant and the club in spring 2020 as being significantly too high, but they also briefly caused unrest in the Bayern dressing room.

It is understandable that recently Alaba or Süle no longer wanted to rank too much behind due to their strong performance in salary.

Behind a Hernández, who has strengths in tackles, but also deficits in positional play and opening the game.

Whether a question of respect, whether one of money, whether both together: In any case, Bayern are once again in the dilemma that they have to redesign the neuralgically fragile defense for the coming season.

And there, above all, they finally need a real leader.

Hernández, Upamecano, Pavard, to the defense chief who gives the commands, who decides when the chain can fall back, when it moves up, it's not enough for anyone.

Süle could have been someone like that.

His coach apparently believes he is capable of this role, Julian Nagelsmann, who once trained Süle in Hoffenheim, is said to have campaigned to stay.

So Bayern must now strive for a top transfer.

Whether it's Andreas Christensen from Chelsea FC, Gleison Bremer from FC Torino, or whoever.

And they have to try to get long-term personnel continuity on the defensive, for well-established processes, for blind understanding.

Without them immediately scaring away the next one.

Niklas Süle, who is highly valued by his teammates both as a person and as a professional, will still enjoy his last few months in Munich and amusingly demonstrate to the club bosses in the middle tier of the main stand what they are losing with him.

And then he can finally go away in the summer.