What to expect from Bayern Munich in the January transfer window

Stefan Bienkowski

• Updated: 23 May 2023 08:47 CDT
• 3 min read

Sitting top of the Bundesliga table and with an unbeaten record in this season’s Champions League, one would forgive Hansi Flick for assuming his Bayern Munich squad is just fine the way it is. 

Indeed, on the face of it the Munich giants look just fine the way they are but when we look a little closer there are undoubtedly cracks beginning to appear in Flick’s side and January could offer the perfect opportunity for the German and European champions to bring in new solutions to old problems. 

So, will Flick go into the transfer market for solutions in January?

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Bayern Munich’s January priorities

While Bayern have lost just one game in all competitions this season, Flick’s side have conceded 12 goals in their last 10 games. 

While much of that has gone unnoticed due to the fact that the Bavarian outfit have one of the most prolific goal scorers in modern football, in the form of Robert Lewandowski and an equally talented supporting cast, there’s little doubt that Bayern’s defence should be doing much better. 

Indeed, the team’s most regular central defensive partnership this season has been David Alaba and Jerome Boateng. Not only have both players struggled to match the form and performances of former seasons, but they’re both out of contract at the end of this current campaign and could agree pre-contract deals or leave the club entirely this month. 

With just Niklas Sule and Tanguy Kouassi to pick from at centre-back before Flick turns to full-backs like Lucas Hernandez or Benjamin Pavard, it’s clear that Bayern will almost certainly need to sign another readymade centre-back either in this window or the next. 

Other possibilities for Flick

While central defence is undoubtedly the main priority for Bayern, there’s no doubt that Alaba’s seemingly imminent departure could force the club into bringing in another left-back before the start of next season. 

As such, the reports linking Bayern with Reading left-back Omar Richards do make plenty of sense. The young player’s contract expires in six months, which would allow the Bundesliga club to sign him up to a deal and welcome him to the club in the summer. 

Elsewhere, Bayern may be tempted to begin searching for another central midfielder for either this window or the next. Not only has Flick been forced to call up 17-year-old midfielder Jamal Musiala to cover a number of injuries to key players this season, but it’s also now likely that he’ll lose fellow back-up midfielder Javi Martinez either in January or when his contract expires at the end of the season. 

While Joshua Kimmich, Corentin Tolisso and Leon Goretzka have very little to fear in terms of their roles in Flick’s future plans, it would seem prudent if the Bayern boss bolstered his options in the middle of the pitch.