The Bayern Insider: Michael Olise to Man City rumour as Real Madrid transfer pact emerges | OneFootball

Welcome to today’s exclusive & comprehensive round-up of all things Bayern Munich from Bayern insider Christian Falk. Featuring updates on Michael Olise, Lucas Bergvall, Nathan de Cat, and Nathaniel Brown.

Today’s top stories

It’s official! Germany are in the knockout stages of the World Cup for the first time since 2014. It’s amazing! I’m used to reporting on the semi-final, and I’ve been doing this job for 25 years. So, it’s quite something that we’re so happy about being back in the round of 16. A strange feeling, but we’re happy. And if you saw the match against the Ivory Coast, you’ll know a win was far from guaranteed. There was one situation where Leon Goretzka tracked back brilliantly to save a shot which would have put the Ivorians 2-0 up against Julian Nagelsmann’s side. That would have surely left Germany with the same situation they faced in the last two tournaments, in which they were ultimately dumped out of the competition at the group stage. In the end, I think the three points were well deserved – we were certainly the better side.

I should say that it’s all thanks in no small part to our new star, Deniz Undav. He’s a really strange guy (in a good way) who’s had a very special career. There are definitely some parallels to Jamie Vardy’s story in the sport. He established himself as a good player quite late on. The 29-year-old was previously working as a machine operator, and he had €100 a month for food. He told me that he had to buy a lot of toast at the start of the month, and a lot of Krautsalat and water. Not exactly what you’d call top-level nutrition for a sportsman! But now look at him: top scorer for the German national team with three goals and two assists, and his name is on a prestigious list alongside the likes of Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland! Crazy story.

The German national team is improving nicely at a leisurely pace. Of course, it’s not been all smooth-sailing with the injury to Nico Schlotterbeck. Fortunately, Germany can rely on Antonio Rüdiger to play this position very well. And don’t forget about Lennart Karl and Serge Gnabry, both of whom are out with injury. You can see that the backline isn’t incredibly safe, and the offence isn’t working as seamlessly as it appeared to be in the opening group stage game against Curaçao. Florian Wirtz, Jamal Musiala, Kai Havertz and Leroy Sané have to do better. But, of course, if you can improve in a tournament, this is very fitting with the German way. There’s a great sense of team spirit at the moment, so perhaps this can be another famous German turniermannschaft.

For our English-speaking readers, “turniermannschaft” is the word we Germans have to describe a team that gets progressively better during a tournament. And in the end, you make it to the final, and no one knows why!

Real Madrid’s planned mega-money transfer for Michael Olise

✅ It is TRUE: Real Madrid would like to have Michael Olise. But it’s not true that they have any kind of chance of signing the Frenchman this summer. Real Madrid publicly declared they haven’t spoken to the winger or Bayern Munich, and there is some background I can offer on this. The presidents of the club – on the one hand, Herbert Hainer from Bayern Munich, and on the other, Florentino Pérez – are very close. They were at the dinner around the Champions League quarter-finals in Madrid and Munich, and now they have a strong connection. There was a clear sign from Hainer to his colleague and friend that Real Madrid have no chance of signing Olise. Perez, likewise, made a clear signal that the La Liga giants wouldn’t attempt a move without first informing Hainer beforehand. So, I don’t know where the rumours are coming from!

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So, they made this transfer pact – let’s call it the “presidential pact”! At the moment, Real Madrid knows there’s no chance, even if they were to bid €300m. Also, the Spanish club are prepared to hold fire if Bayern Munich simply aren’t prepared to sell Michael Olise. That’s why the rumour mill should really be a bit quieter on this front. And you should know: he has a long-term contract in Munich (expiring in 2029). So, there’s no chance for Olise to push for anything, even if he’d like to. But we don’t even know if he’d like to make a move.

Have Manchester City also got the hint on Olise?

The main thing on Olise will be whether or not he signs a new contract with FC Bayern. Bayern Munich knows that time will keep running if he doesn’t put pen to paper on new terms. So, there will be a day when they have to talk and decide to potentially sell him a year before his contract runs out. They’d have to be able to bring in money to sign a potential successor. At the moment, the contract is running long enough to not worry about it at this point in time. The wide man is playing very well at Bayern Munich and he’s on a five-year contract, so the club still has time to convince him to sign a new contract.

As we’ve previously reported here at CF Bayern Insider, Michael Olise will get a great offer once he’s back from the World Cup. More money, certainly, to bring him in the range of the top earners at Bayern Munich. Unless you’re Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo or Erling Haaland, there are few players in world football who will earn more than the top level at Bayern. So, from a financial perspective, I don’t think this will be a problem. The big question is whether Olise sees himself pulling on the sexy white jersey of Real Madrid or whether he looks at the red jersey of Bayern Munich and thinks, this is the best jersey I can imagine and I want to win the Champions League with this club.

Don’t forget PSG, by the way. They’re also keen on Olise and working on this. So the 24-year-old  does have options.

Where does Olise see his future positionally?

Vincent Kompany knows how good Michael Olise is in the No.10 position. If you’ve watched his whole season at FC Bayern, you’ll know he has played in the No.10. In the other matches where he hasn’t started here, it’s worth emphasising that Kompany’s setup is so open and fluid that the France international finds himself there anyway when rotating across the pitch with Jamal Musiala. So, he can be the No.10 for 30 minutes and on the wing for the other 60, and vice versa with Musiala. It’s no longer the case like it was 30 years ago when the 10 would be fixed in place.

Nathaniel Brown transfer news: The deal is still on

I can say the Nathaniel Brown deal will happen! They have an important question still left to answer, which is how much money Bayern Munich will give Eintracht Frankfurt for the left-back. The first part of the question is clear: it will be around €55m. But the second half of the question is how it will be paid. What is the fixed fee? What are the add-ons? These are just some points to clarify. But it’s not a serious problem; everyone is fine with the situation as it’s developing. These things take time, and in the middle of all of this, there is travel taking place around a major international tournament. For example, I met the head of sport of Frankfurt in the stadium during the Germany game. So, you see, everyone is cool; no one is flying back to Germany to fix the deal. It’s in motion.

The idea of Bayern Munich was to nail down the deal before the first game. But now they have the money in the bank, and there’s no fear that the player is going to become more expensive as the World Cup progresses. So, with that in mind, Bayern are calm and don’t feel they have to make a quick decision. In the end, they will likely announce the transfer in July.

Are Bayern Munich serious about Tottenham’s Lucas Bergvall?

❌ It is NOT TRUE: Bayern Munich are monitoring Tottenham midfielder Lucas Bergvall this summer. FC Bayern are not interested. I don’t know where the rumours are coming from! I’ve had a clear signal from the club that they are not following the Sweden international. An interesting player, but not one for Bayern Munich at this point in time.

Could Nathan de Cat be back on the agenda?

✅ It is TRUE: Nathan de Cat is on Bayern Munich’s shortlist. I’ve mentioned the Anderlecht star before, and for good reason, as Bayern definitely rate him. However, at the moment, it is what it is. If they don’t sell a player, they won’t go for De Cat. At the moment, it feels like an agent thing; with the links to Bayern being taken advantage of to help engineer a better deal with another interested club. It’s not hot with Bayern at the moment. I’m not saying it will never happen, but there just isn’t the liquidity right now for Bayern Munich to seriously pursue this deal.

Bernhard Seonbuchner: The evolution of Bayern’s campus

✅ It is TRUE: There are talks to bring Bernhard Seonbuchner on board. Christoph Freund knows the 42-year-old very well from his time at RB Salzburg. I heard there was already a meeting in Salzburg. At the moment, it’s not clear what the big idea will be when he comes to Bayern Munich. He was working on the campus, trying to build connections between the youth and senior teams. We still don’t know what the future of Max Eberl looks like and whether he’ll get a new contract or even if he’ll fulfil his current terms until 2027 if he doesn’t get a new contract. Bayern Munich has an exit scenario in mind in case Eberl does leave this summer. In this case, Bayern have Jan-Christian Dreesen as CEO, so Christoph Freund could replace Eberl as head of sport, and then Bayern would need a new sporting director. This could be Seonbuchner.

What next for Bayern’s young stars?

Maycon Cardozo: He’s a success story. Bayern Munich brought him in from their international team (the World Squad). Cardozo is doing very well, and so it’s natural that there are rumours about his future and links to the likes of Manchester United. It’s not so hot that the Red Devils will sign him this summer. But you can see they have a player they can develop who may then have a high transfer fee. This is Bayern Munich’s idea. On the one hand, they see a player who could become the next Lennart Karl, and on the other hand, if he doesn’t have the potential, you can still sell him and make money! I’m not sure Cardozo will have plenty of opportunity for minutes in the first team next season, so perhaps they’ll send him out on loan, or perhaps they’ll keep him as a squad option. It’s a good example of how Bayern are pursuing young talents.

Felipe Chávez: You can see Bayern’s thinking here. Loan a young player to a Bundesliga club and see how they perform. Perhaps they’ll buy him, or perhaps they’ll take advantage of a buy-option already in a player’s contract. Noël Aséko is a great example of this. He was on loan with Hannover, who eventually bought him. Then Bayern activated his buy-back, and now in the summer he’ll be involved in pre-season. But it’s still not clear if he’ll be involved throughout the 2026/27 season. There was a call with Vincent Kompany, who wants to see Aséko this summer. If he does well, he’ll have a chance with the senior side. If not, he can go on loan.

Julien Yanda: No chance to play for Bayern Munich at the moment. Bayern still don’t know if they can sell Alphonso Davies or if the Canadian even wants a transfer. They think that they’ll go with Nathaniel Brown and Davies next term. Bayern still have Hiroki Ito, who’s on the transfer list. Perhaps there’ll be an offer for him, but if not, then the club will have three players who can play the left-back position. I don’t see many minutes for Yanda. So, I think a loan deal would be his best bet.

Guido Della Rovere: An interesting player! I think he will also get a chance in the summer. Bayern will do a tour of Asia, and there are going to be a few Asian players in the squad. Perhaps a few young players will join! And perhaps he has a Della Rovere has a chance to join them. Kompany has an eye on the 19-year-old, but there’s yet to be a decision made on his career.

Arijon Ibrahimović: There are no signs that he’ll be given a chance at Bayern Munich. He was on loan, and Bayern tried to find a club that would want to sign him. There have been talks in Italy, with some interested clubs. This could be a potential deal to keep an eye on, as Max Eberl has to sell some players this summer.

Deniz Ofli: A potential loan spell here. At left-back, Bayern are stocked with plentiful supplies.

Santos Daiber: He’s a guy who has the best chance of the lot to play a role with the senior side next season. There’ll be a bit of a battle, of course, given Aséko’s involvement. But he’ll get his chance; the “Lennart Karl chance”, if you will. If Daiber does well this summer, perhaps we’ll see more of him next term.

Nestory Irankunda still on Bayern’s mind?

✅ It is TRUE: Nestory Irankunda has a buy-back option in his contract that Bayern Munich can activate. It’s not clear if reports are totally accurate on the €4.5m-€5m figure that has been circulated, but it’s in this rough direction. Bayern do have an eye on him because of this and, of course, because of his performances at the World Cup so far. At the moment, there’s no plan to trigger the teenager’s buy-back option. And he still has the chance to play even better!