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Hummels to BVB? Three question marks for Bayern - Sport
It seems that the sale of Mats Hummels would have been convenient for the people of Munich. But this step would involve risks.
The surprising thing is that nobody at Bayern calls surprised or horrified cries. The club is about to lose one of the best players in its second half, and the decision makers? They are silent. As if what was just about to start, would not be so inconvenient. But as little as reasonable the likely farewell of Mats Hummels to Dortmund would be sporty at first glance, it would not be surprising at second glance. It is a farewell that has lasted for a year.
That the cooperation between Hummels and Niko Kovac should rather be a short one, had already suggested before the first common competitive game. Kovac had barely been introduced as a new coach in 2018, as history was already circulating, with which tactics he had won the cup a few weeks earlier with Frankfurt: with long balls - on Hummels. Soon the story should also have reached the Bayern cabin and thus the proud Hummels, who never forgets. And so disharmoniously it went on: Kovac passed Hummels often at first; in the autumn crisis, Hummels was considered an internal critic. Only in winter he became a regular player, but continued to express skepticism, never by name about the coach, but like about its core area: the tactics.
The fact that Hummels will probably return to BVB is explained by his relationship with Kovac. Mutual trust has never grown between the two, that's one thing. The other is that FC Bayern is currently working on a squad, which should facilitate the coach's everyday work. It is a plan that is not without some risk.
Bayern has to replace a lot of game intelligence
Hummels was one of the best Bayern players in the second half, with his routine, his ambition, his will to win. With these skills, he would be the stabilizer for Dortmund, who had missed the team in the title fight behind - and at the same time would not be clear who closes the gap he would leave in Munich.
Without Hummels FC Bayern would have three question marks in central defense: Can Niklas Süle lead a defense without experienced side man? Will the 80-million-euro man Lucas Hernández be fit and fit in time? And will the 35-million-euro man Benjamin Pavard forget his modest season with relegated Stuttgart?
The team Bayern are currently building is one that Kovac envisions: younger, faster, more physical. But it is also a team that has to replace a lot of gaming intelligence, with the departure of Ribéry, Robben, James and probably Hummels (and Jérôme Boateng, President Uli Hoeneß has irrevocably suggested a change). It is a team that is easier to control for Kovac, many of the departures also take their doubts on the current Munich way into the distance. The danger could only be that the reconstruction creates a squad who has lost too much of inner attitude and tension.
