FC Bayern experienced a Deadline Day to forget. Honorary President Uli Hoeneß wants to avoid this at all costs in the future.
In the next three months, Uli Hoeneß doesn’t want to hear one word on Säbener Straße again. The use of the term “transfer” is “punishable until 1 December”, the honorary president of FC Bayern told the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”. The deadline day fiasco of the German record champion is having an effect.
Instead of signing Joao Palhinha, the defensive midfielder so longed for by coach Thomas Tuchel, and Joao Cancelo, an outside defender, no player had moved to Munich last Friday. While Cancelo instead left Manchester City for FC Barcelona, Palhinha had to stay at Fulham FC, even though he had already completed his medical with the FCB and the contract was ready to be signed.
Because Josip Stanisic (loan to Bayer Leverkusen), Benjamin Pavard (Inter Milan) and Ryan Gravenberch (FC Liverpool) were allowed to leave, Tuchel has to play at least the first half of the season with an unplanned small squad. He is now a bit “thinner”, he said on the sidelines of Saturday night’s 2-1 win at Borussia Mönchengladbach.
“In future, not in the middle of the action on the last transfer day “
Whoever was responsible for this result: Hoeneß wants to avoid this year’s turbulence of the last days and hours of the transfer window in future. “Apart from exceptional cases, we should not be in the middle of the action on the last transfer day in future,” he thinks. “We used to laugh about this deadline day!” His wish is that in the coming years there will be clarity by the start of training or by 1 August at the latest.
For the time being, the Bayern managers – reinforced as of now by new sporting director Christoph Freund – have promised Tuchel new signings in the winter. Joao Palhinha, in whom they would have invested around 65 million euros, could then also become an issue once again. “You usually see each other twice in life,” said CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen.
