The Problem That Liverpool And Bayern Munich Are Facing

Liverpool and Bayern Munich dominate the list for most valuable players out of contract come the end of the season. Here at Football Park, we’re going to evaluate those top five players and how disastrous it would be if they left on a free.

5 – Joshua Kimmich – Bayern Munich – €50 million

Making the move from Vfb Stuttgart all the way back in 2015, Joshua Kimmich has been a loyal servant to Bayern Munich over the years. He has won the UEFA Champions League, eight Bundesliga titles and three DFB-Pokals in his time wearing a Bayern shirt.

🔴🇩🇪 Bayern are now confident to get new deal agreement done with Joshua Kimmich.

Negotiations are underway and he’s now more open to discuss compared to last season.

PSG move didn’t happen… while Bayern absolutely want Kimmich to stay and be a face of the project. pic.twitter.com/7k82s3bhW9

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) October 22, 2024

Kimmich has amassed 401 appearances for the club contributing 42 goals and 107 assists. He is crucial to the club as he can perform at the highest level in two different positions in right back and defensive midfield. Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer has been the club captain for numerous years now but if Kimmich were to re-sign, it is reported that he would earn the armband as Thomas Müller could be retiring at the end of the season.

We’ll give this a rating of 7/10 in terms of urgency. Although being crowned the captain of Bayern Munich would be a massive factor in staying, there are great offers from other clubs like Barcelona and Manchester City. Bayern do still have good midfielders in Leon Goretzka, Konrad Laimer, the newly brought in João Palhinha and promising youngster Aleksandar Pavlovic so they could potentially afford to lose Kimmich’s services.

4 – Alphonso Davies – Bayern Munich – €50 million

Alphonso Davies has already achieved so much with Bayern Munich at the age of just 23, making him the youngest player in this list. He joined Bayern in 2018 from MLS side Vancouver Whitecaps and has been explosive ever since. Davies was instrumental in the 2019/20 UEFA Champions League campaign that saw he lift the title at the end of the tournament, most notably in the 2-8 thrashing of Barcelona in the Quarter-Final stage where he was excellent in defending against Lionel Messi and grabbed himself an assist as well.

🚨 Manchester United are set to compete with Real Madrid to secure the free transfer of Alphonso Davies from Bayern.

(Source: Sky Germany) pic.twitter.com/MywQ4du3Mp

— Transfer News Live (@DeadlineDayLive) October 18, 2024

Davies has scored 11 times and assisted 32 goals in his 205 appearances for Bayern Munich. He is definitely one of the best in his position due to his terrifying speed and dribbling ability, not including the fact that one on one his is elite. Raphaël Guerreiro is the only real replacement left back that Bayern have to offer so if they do look to let him go, they will need to invest a lot of money into finding a player better than “Phonsie”.

We’ll give this a rating of 9/10 in terms of urgency. With Bayern only having one Bundesliga proven left back if Davies left, Bayern would be left struggling on his departure. Real Madrid have been trying to tempt Alphonso Davies to the Bernabéu for the last couple of transfer windows now, but Munich have always priced the left back too much. Manchester United are now keen on getting involved as there will be no money given transfer wise, but it would be expected that Davies deserves an impressive wage.

3 – Mohamed Salah – Liverpool – €55 million

Mohamed Salah has become one of the faces of the Premier League since he came to the Merseyside club in 2017 and continues to prove his critics wrong every year. He has won everything that a professional footballer can at club level, alongside the astonishing feat of his lowest goalscoring season for Liverpool being 19 goals, showing that he is levels above the rest.

🚨 Mo Salah wants a "massive" new contract to extend his stay at Liverpool until 2027.

(Source: Football Insider) pic.twitter.com/NK7PIS7uXC

— Transfer News Live (@DeadlineDayLive) October 21, 2024

Salah has amassed 361 appearances for the club contributing 218 goals and 96 assists. He is the third highest goalscorer in Liverpool’s history and has played a crucial role in the success that the club has seen over the last seven years that Mo has been at the club. The only issue with this is that he is now at the age of 32 and Liverpool will have to find a replacement whether that is due to him leaving on a free or if he retires within the next couple of years. If Salah would get given a new contract, the wages would have to be lucrative which is where there are problems as Liverpool’s owners do not want to break the wage structure set in stone just for one man, even thought that man is Mo Salah.

We’ll give this a rating of 8/10 in terms of urgency. Despite his age, Mo Salah has proven that he can still perform again and again, already hitting 5 goals and 5 assists in the 8 Premier League games so far. Liverpool are rumoured to be looking into Borussia Dortmund’s Karim Adeyemi and Jamie Bynoe-Gittens as replacement options as well as the fact that Federico Chiesa was brought in during the summer. Regardless of those fact, Salah is still the man that Liverpool fans would like to keep not only for the goals he brings but the memories of his time there so far.

2 – Leroy Sané – Bayern Munich – €60 million

Heading over to the Bundesliga from the Premier League in 2020, Leroy Sané has spent four years with Bayern Munich now. Three Bundesliga titles later and he could be on his way back to the Premier League potentially as he is out of contract when this season ends.

🚨 Leroy Sané would like to stay at Bayern Munich beyond his current contract but he's only willing to accept an offer at the level of his current €20m-a-year wages.

He will be open to hearing proposals from other clubs if he doesn't get that offer. Newcastle are interested but… pic.twitter.com/gc8FSrL8RN

— Transfer News Live (@DeadlineDayLive) October 18, 2024

Leroy has suited up in a Bayern Munich shirt on 181 occasions, scoring 49 times and assisting 50 times as well. He might be overlooked in the category of quality wingers, but Sané should definitely be considered in the best in the world list. His electric pace and powerful shots are what makes him so difficult to come up against. Bayern could hypothetically lose Kingsley Coman so they will not want to lose Sané as well.

We’ll give this a rating of 6/10 in terms of urgency. Bayern Munich have some very promising young wingers that could come in to replace Sané but that will take time. Football Park tier one rated source Christian Falk has reported that he is not willing to accept anything lower than a €20 million a year salary which is what Bayern have slight issues over. It is said that Newcastle would be interested in bringing the German back to the Premier League but Sané himself isn’t too keen on them as of this moment knowing staying could be on the cards.

1 – Trent Alexander-Arnold – Liverpool – €70 million

Whilst playing for his boyhood club, Trent Alexander-Arnold has risen to astronomical levels. Not only has he completed club football at the age of 26, but he has also developed into one of the best passers in world football and has the most Premier League assists for a defender with 59 and counting.

🚨⚠️ Arne Slot again on Alexander Arnold and Real Madrid links: “You just focus on what you have to do”.

“Maybe if you’re 17 or 18 years of age, that could be difficult for you. But Trent has won the league, has won the Champions League, Virgil van Dijk and Salah are the same”. pic.twitter.com/G4rlesLydA

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) October 19, 2024

Trent has played 321 games for Liverpool and has found the back of the net 19 times with the added bonus of 83 assists. 102 goal involvements from right back is unheard of and there is no doubt that he is the best fullback in the Premier League. Some might question his defence at times, but he has massively worked on that and you can see that he no longer makes the errors that he might used to do when he was younger. Alexander-Arnold is good enough to play in midfield as well so his versatility will add to any transfer fee if he were to re-sign.

We’ll give this a rating of 10/10 in terms of urgency. Liverpool need to get his contract renewed at all costs. The output that Trent gives cannot be replaced, nor will they find a better passer on the ball, especially at right back. Connor Bradley might be getting eased into matches, but Trent is special, and we can’t see Bradley getting to that level anytime soon. After it was revealed that there have been some impasses in the renewal and Dani Carvajal’s injury, Real Madrid have persisted with their efforts to sign Trent even more, much to the annoyance of Liverpool fans. Liverpool have been monitoring the situation of Jeremie Frimpong as a just in case, but every single fan of the club would much rather have Trent Alexander-Arnold, “The Scouser In The Team”.

What Happens Next?

This is not the be all and end all. Both Liverpool and Bayern Munich have until the end of the season to try and ensure that these players stay at their clubs for another year. However, they might have to sacrifice one to ensure the services of two. It is completely up to the board of directors and the higher ups which will make it a crushing blow to the fans once the announcements on which players are staying get released.

We are going to have to wait and see what directions each club goes but if they are not able to replace the players that leave, then the clubs will be questioning whether they should have just broken the bank in an effort to keep these players.