As of: March 26, 2024, 2:26 p.m
By: Hanna Raif, Philipp Kessler
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The ball is in Alphonso Davies's court.
How does the Canadian decide?
© IMAGO/BEAUTIFUL SPORTS/Wunderl
Alphonso Davies is still keeping FC Bayern waiting to extend his contract.
The bosses would rather have a decision today than tomorrow.
Munich - The trip with the national team wasn't as long as usual for Alphonso Davies during the current secondment period - but it was important.
Since Saturday evening and the 2-0 win in Trinidad and Tobago, it has been clear that the 23-year-old will take part in the Copa America with his home country Canada in the summer.
The tournament in the USA kicks off on June 20th and the final whistle is on July 13th.
A possible scenario that accompanies the South American continental championship: Davies flies across the pond as an FC Bayern player - and returns as a professional from Real Madrid.
As is well known, contracts in the football industry are concluded on July 1st, and the contract that Davies actually has in Munich until 2025 will have been revised by then - one way or another.
The new sports director Max Eberl had already made it clear last week that in the executive suite on Säbener Strasse their patience was gradually running out in the tough negotiations with Davies (quote via Sport
Bild
: “At some point in life you have to say yes or no say"), the Canadian was also informed internally that they wanted a prompt decision.
Eberl, his boss colleagues and sports director Christoph Freund are insisting on clarity in this case, which can be heard from the upper circles, but a gut feeling has long since spread in the Davies case.
As the
tz
learned, after a good year of chewing gum negotiations, a lot of public talk and, above all, in view of the long hesitation to sign the contract that is ready to be printed until 2029 (annual earnings around 14 million euros), one is more likely to be one departure than from staying.
One of Bayern's possible replacements is Ian Maatsen, who is currently on loan to BVB from Chelsea.
Davies' likely destination, Real, is known - and Bayern want and need to know today rather than tomorrow whether they can factor in the up to 50 million transfer fee for Davies.
Building a world-class squad is no easy task anyway.
Building it for the coming season under time pressure and – as of now – without a coach is a mammoth task for Eberl and Freund.
You want to master it with a mixture of a solid axis, young wild ones as well as old and new stars. The squad players should be united in the will to give everything for this club.
Eberl wants to have “players who stand for Bayern Munich, who want to identify with the club.”
According to Schweinsteiger, squad planning needs to change
Internally, it was agreed to accept a few percentage points less in terms of quality for new additions if this component is correct.
Technology isn't everything, the personality has to be right.
The entire squad is currently being monitored under this credo.
In the ARD sports show, Bastian Schweinsteiger said: “Just replacing a coach is not enough.
FC Bayern definitely needs to change something in their squad planning.”
Eberl has enough experience to say bluntly: “If a player no longer wants to be here, you have to make decisions.” A sentence that was also addressed to Davies, who is the first piece of the puzzle in many transfer efforts.
The question “What financial options do we have to realize our wishes in many positions?” also depends on the man who Eberl's predecessor Hasan Salihamidzic had planned as a pillar for Bayern's future.
But then everything turned out differently.
Hanna Raif, Philipp Kessler