Before Olise: Bayern tried to sign Barcelona wonderkid Lamine Yamal

Tom Weber

Updated: 22 Jun 2024 17:58 BST
3 min read

Bayern Munich tried to sign Lamine Yamal in 2022, according to German media.

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The Bavarians are on the verge of pulling off one of the biggest transfers of the summer. On Friday, it was revealed that Crystal Palace superstar Michael Olise, the Premier League's most in-demand player, had decided to move to the Bundesliga.

Bayern have now reportedly struck up an agreement with Crystal Palace for Olise, paying €60 million and tying him down to a five-year contract. It is a lot of money for a player the Germans don't necessarily need seeing as though they still have Leroy Sane on their books and want him to sign a new deal, but perhaps they view Olise as a worthy heir to club legend Arjen Robben, himself a deadly left-footed right-winger.

Had things panned out slightly differently in 2022, however, the Bavarians could already have had a brilliant player of that profile on their books. That is because Sky Germany has now revealed that Bayern tried to sign Lamine Yamal in 2022.

Bayern met with Yamal

The Barcelona wonderkid has been stealing the show in Catalunya for the past year and he has also impressed for Spain at Euro 2024 so far. Currently the favourite to win this year's Golden Boy award, Yamal is one of the biggest talents in world football right now.

In 2021, former Bayern chief Marco Neppe discovered the youngster in Barcelona and was enthralled. The following year, a meeting with the then-14-year-old and his ex-agent Ivan de la Pena was arranged by Neppe and director Hasan Salihamidzic.

Bayern were desperate to secure the teenager's signature, believing that he had a similar Ballon d'Or-winning potential to Jamal Musiala. However, a transfer didn't materialise for the simple reason that Yamal was settled in Barcelona and did not want to leave the club.