Coach
Pep Guardiola and sporting director Matthias Sammer have some work to do
ahead of the new season to ensure Bayern can challenge for the
Champions League next season
Bayern Munich, domestic double winners in 2014, won 'only' the Bundesliga title last season and, following a chastening Champions League semi-final defeat to eventual winners Barcelona, there has been an inquest into this squad's suitability for a triple title chase.
However, it was a run of injuries on an unprecedented scale which meant Bayern were caught short right at the season's most critical juncture. At full strength, the German record champions remain a match for any team in Europe, Barca included. But facing Messi, Suarez and Neymar without their own star names put a distance between Barca and what Bayern could muster over two legs.
Last season's big summer signing Medhi Benatia was among those whose fitness could not be relied upon for the full season with his breakdown in the DFB-Pokal quarter-finals eventually prompting coach Pep Guardiola to re-assess the position of long-standing Bayern club doctor Hans-Wilhelm Muller Wohlfhart.
Elsewhere, David Alaba, Arjen Robben, Franck Ribery, Thiago Alcantara, Javi Martinez, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Philipp Lahm all missed sizeable chunks of the season meaning Guardiola was more reliant than he would have liked to be be on new faces like Juan Bernat and Sebastian Rode.
Major alterations are neither required nor expected at the Allianz Arena this summer. So long as Bayern do not encounter injuries on such a scale this season they should be able to meet their upcoming season objectives.
However, in Mario Gotze, Benatia, Martinez and Thiago, Bayern have recently re-acquired the habit of one major summer outlay. Executive board member Jan-Christian Dreesen admitted that the club could easily afford to spend €100m on one star name in the transfer window.
| TRANSFER TARGETS |
Bayern's long-standing tradition of picking off the best of the Bundesliga could yet materialise this summer if Kevin de Bruyne is added but any move for Borussia Dortmund's wantaway midfielder Ilkay Gundogan is off. While the player himself admitted that he would be interested in pursuing further talks with the Bavarians, Guardiola's side have cooled their interest due to the excessive wage demands of the Germany international.
Nonetheless, Bayern are known to be keen to add some pace to their midfield and have been considering a move for Manchester United star Angel Di Maria. The former Real Madrid winger endured a difficult first season at Old Trafford but Bayern have so far been unwilling to match the price set by United, who would demand as much of the €75 they paid for him as possible. With Xabi Alonso and Bastian Schweinsteiger noticeably slowing down last season, though, Guardiola would welcome the options provided by Di Maria in the centre of Bayern's team. His adaptability would also provide some cover and competition on the wings for Ribery and Robben.
De Bruyne, the Bundesliga's player of the season, attracted the interest of Bayern with his level of performance for runners-up Wolfsburg but one of his representatives this week disclosed that the Belgian is ready to sign a massive new deal to remain at the Volkswagen Arena for the foreseeable future.
Bayern are also admirers of Torino central defender Kamil Glik and right back Matteo Darmian, with the latter's name well established on the radar. Darmian would make a good replacement for Rafinha, whose defensive contributions last season were not altogether stellar.
More fanciful names to be mentioned are Antoine Griezmann of Atletico Madrid and Felipe Anderson of Lazio, who has had a fine season. However, those two could be regarded as Bayern players for the future rather than in the short term.
Promising Stuttgart midfielder Joshua Kimmich, so far, remains Bayern's only confirmed summer transfer although options around the pitch will be bolstered with the loan returns of Pierre Emile Hojbjerg, Julian Green and Jan Kirchhoff.
| PLAYERS WHO COULD LEAVE |
The permanent transfer of Xherdan Shaqiri to Inter, where he spent the latter half of last season on loan, has been confirmed but there will be no mass exodus from Sabener Strasse this summer.
Claudio Pizarro, a somewhat reliable if immobile back-up striker, is out of contract and probably will not be offered new terms while the contract of Mitchell Weiser, who has failed to develop after signing as a promising teenager, has also been allowed to expire.
Central defender Dante, who was substituted after only half an hour of a league match against Hannover due to ineptitude, endured a shockingly poor conclusion to the season and was, at one stage, tipped for the exit door. However, the player himself is on the record this week as saying his future belongs to Bayern. His contract runs up to 2017 and, despite the reported interest of Manchester United, he could now stay.
More unlikely would be the departure of Bastian Schweinsteiger. Following Bayern's difficulties in midfield during the season, an area of the field in which they are regarded as slow, Schweinsteiger's name has been linked with the exit door. Press reports in England continue to link the 30-year-old World Cup winner with Manchester United given his links with former Bayern coach Louis van Gaal. However, from a Bavarian perspective, Schweinsteiger is not expected to depart.
It was a difficult season for the golden boy of German football, Mario Gotze, who, at key times and with huge injury trouble blighting the club, could not even force his way into the starting XI. However, the 23-year-old will likely be given at least another season to prove himself.
| THE COACH |
Just about the whole football world knows that Pep Guardiola's Bayern contract is set to expire in 2016 with plenty of interested clubs expected to declare their interest as the season goes on. However, Bayern remain optimistic of retaining the services of, perhaps, the most innovative coach in world football beyond next summer.
Guardiola is attempting to implement not only a system to win matches at Bayern but an entire shift of the playing culture at the club in order to carve out a distinct identity for Bayern. It is working in the sense that they do not have a legitimate challenger on the home front but marrying that new style to success in the Champions League has not been so easy.
He has had to defend his methods and fight in front of the press for the right to retain his job following the high-profile defeats to Real Madrid and Barcelona in the Champions League and has also had to fend off constant speculation linking him to Manchester City. He has said "200 million times" he will see out his contract at Bayern at the very least. It has not been plain sailing for Pep at Bayern but he is as good as unsackable.
If Darmian comes in, he could relegate Rafinha to the bench and provide better defensive cover on that side than the Brazilian.
To quicken the pace through midfield, David Alaba will play there with Philipp Lahm and Thiago providing the expert ball-retention skills and forward passing capabilities respectively. However, Alonso and Schweinsteiger will also have their say in midfield.
Up front, Di Maria could displace Franck Ribery when not fielded through the centre of midfield while Thomas Muller will play plenty in a variety of positions even though he is not included in this lineup.
Mario Gotze might well have to settle for a place on the bench again.
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