Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich missed a trick when Premier League leaders Liverpool snapped up former Stuttgart captain Wataru Endo last summer for £16 million, according to a pair of German football experts.
There was a time in which Bayern Munich made a habit of raiding their local rivals. An almost annual tradition, you could say.
The Bavarian powerhouses famously ‘hobbled’ Borussia Dortmund when they snapped up Mario Gotze, Robert Lewandowski and Mats Hummels in the blink of an eye, and performed similar pillages of RB Leipzig and Werder Bremen when they too were emerging as contenders for the German throne.
But while Konrad Laimer and Raphael Guerreiro did make the move to the Allianz Arena last summer – joining for free from Leipzig and Dortmund respectively – the Gegenpressing Podcast’s Manuel Veth believes that Bayern could do worse than to revisit their roots, having seemingly turned their attention to those across the Channel instead.
Bayern Munich’s loss is Liverpool’s gain
“Eric Dier would have never, ever been bought (in the past),” Veth argues. It would have not happened. A washed-up Premier league player would not have joined Bayern Munich. And I think that’s where they have lost their way.”
While Harry Kane has been an obvious success, Sadio Mane flopped badly at Bayern. The German giants – who look destined to miss out on the Bundesliga title after over a decade of dominance – also attempted to bring in Kieran Trippier and Joao Palhinha.
Veth, however, believes that instead of going in heavy on Palhinha – a £55 million deal collapsed on deadline day last summer – Bayern should have looked a little closer to home at a far cheaper alternative.
“Endo would have been a great signing for them!,” Veth adds of a man who blossomed into one of the Bundesliga’s finest ‘number sixes’ before joining Liverpool for £16 million.
“Endo would have been the sort of player Bayern would have signed in the past. They’d have gone to Bundesliga teams for cheap players. In recent years, they’ve had this obsession with Premier League players.”
Departing Bayern boss Thomas Tuchel has made no secret of his concerns that neither Joshua Kimmich nor Leon Goretzka are capable of performing in a deep-lying role, their lack of midfield muscle exposed during successive three-goal defeats to Bochum and Bayer Leverkusen.
Bayern Munich falling behind in title race
“It’s the consequence of Bayern’s transfer activity in the last couple of seasons,” Stefan Bienkowski adds following Sunday’s stunning 3-2 reverse at relegation-threatened Bochum.
“Kimmich and Goretzka, let’s be honest they haven’t really done anything right all season. It could be something tactical, like they need a ‘number six’.”
Endo, in contrast, produced one of his finest Liverpool performances in that ‘number six’ role as Jurgen Klopp’s title-challengers swept Brentford aside 4-1. The poise and discipline he provided in the centre of the park gave Alexis Mac Allister the freedom to burst forward and score Liverpool’s second of the afternoon in West London.
“I watched Liverpool at the weekend,” Bienkowski adds. “And how Endo was sitting at the heart of that (midfield), and that allowed guys like Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch to play like outstanding ‘number eights’. Maybe Kimmich and Goretzka need something in behind them.
“It doesn’t have to be some 80 million euro Palhinha signing. It can be something smarter than that.”
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