One of the dubious developments in football is that players send more or less subtle messages when they want to change clubs. Whereby: What Benjamin Pavard, 27, recently sent to messages around the world and to FC Bayern was not really subtle.
For two weeks, the Frenchman liked almost every social media post from Inter Milan, sometimes his possible future teammates celebrated a goal, sometimes a potential new colleague posed smiling in front of the camera with a black and blue jersey – the latter also Pavards obvious goal this summer: he also wanted to be presented as an addition to the Italian top club Inter.
After tough negotiations, two missed training sessions in Munich due to alleged injuries (message!) and a lot of public debates, his wish has now been fulfilled: Italian media reported on Tuesday that Pavard could move to Milan. Bayern will receive a transfer fee of 30 million euros, which could increase by three million euros through bonus payments – not little money for a defender who has long since announced his desire to change and was equipped with only one year of remaining contract.
Inter set a deadline for Munich – in the end all sides could benefit from the deal
In any case, this was the majority of the seven-strong Munich transfer committee, which not only has to calculate in terms of sport but also economically. Coach Thomas Tuchel, however, saw things differently until the end because he is primarily interested in sporting factors.
Tuchel would have liked to have kept Pavard, he values him as a reliable, flexible defender who can enrich the starting XI as a center or right-back – and who was allowed to play from the start in “80 percent” of the games he coached, as Tuchel had recently calculated . The problem: Pavard sees himself only as an interior and not as a right-back, which recently increasingly contributed to his dissatisfaction in Munich. Nevertheless, Tuchel put a stop to the transfer to the last: Pavard should only be allowed to leave as soon as an equivalent replacement has arrived on Säbener Straße.
May now move from Munich to Milan: defender Benjamin Pavard.
(Photo: Sven Hoppe/dpa)
This messed up Tuchel’s preferred schedule, but the Munich transfer committee had no other choice: Bayern and Inter had already agreed on the transfer modalities a few days ago, which is why the Milanese no longer wanted to be put off. They gave the people of Munich a deadline of 3 p.m. on Tuesday to get the deal done.
So it may be good news for everyone involved that the change worked: Inter needs a central defender, Pavard can see his service after four years in Munich with 111 competitive games as fulfilled – and Tuchel may not be up for long have to wait for a replacement. According to media reports, Bayern are negotiating a transfer of Trevoh Chalobah, 24, with his former club Chelsea FC. The Englishman can also play central or right-back.