The Bayern Insider: Martin Odegaard rumour as Eberl dreams of Antonio Nusa

Welcome to today’s exclusive & comprehensive round-up of all things Bayern Munich from Bayern insider Christian Falk. Featuring updates on Rio Ngumoha, Martin Odegaard, Antonio Nusa, and Tomas Araujo.

Could Antonio Nusa or Jadon Sancho be arriving in January at Bayern Munich to help out on the left wing?

Were Bayern closer to signing Liverpool’s Rio Ngumoha than everyone initially thought?

Could Arsenal’s Martin Ødegaard be the next Premier League expert to Munich?

And plenty more on Nick Woltemade, Lennart Karl, Ismael Saibari & JJ Gabriel

It’s very good news that Harry Kane has extended his contract until 2029. Kane himself made no secret of the fact that he wanted this contract extension – and Bayern were all too happy to supply it. As we reported previously, it will be a contract until 2029. It’s really interesting what’s in this contract; there were many rumours about whether or not Tottenham have a matching right or a buy-back option, but I can now confirm that it’s not true that either is in the contract. There was no Ballon d’Or clause included in the contract either. I’m sorry, Spurs fans, but the Tottenham connection is fully over. Kane is now a Bayern Munich player. There are some clauses included in the hopes that he’ll continue to score a mountain of goals for FC Bayern. He has a Ballon d’Or clause (and can earn more than €1m as he did this year), a golden shoe clause, best striker in the Bundesliga, best striker in the Champions League, and so on. Harry Kane wants to score many goals for Bayern Munich – and he has a contract that will reward him for this.

It was a really interesting game. You have to bear in mind the squad Bayern had going into the fixture with Atletico Madrid. Luis Diaz is still injured, Saibari injured, Gnabry injured, and Musiala injured. So, not quite the best possible front line FC Bayern could put out in Madrid. Yet, these guys stuck together, also without Vincent Kompany (who’ll be out of action until the international break), and got the win. I’ve often been in Madrid back when Atletico were at their old stadium, the Calderón, and I’ve been at their new one, the Metropolitano. It was always hard for Bayern Munich. Nonetheless, they did an incredible job this week. I think they could build up to something very special in the Champions League this season, because you can see everyone is fighting for each other and the shirt. Bayern have generally tended to play well against Atletico, but it would often be the case that Atletico were just that bit more aggressive. But this Bayern Munich side has both, which makes them such a dangerous proposition for other teams.

We will miss the players still. Serge Gnabry: we’re unlikely to see this side of 2026. Saibari will take a fair bit longer; potentially 3-4 months, or perhaps end of January if we’re lucky. To be honest, I don’t think we will be, given the injury he picked up required surgery. With Musiala, there is some thinking that he could pick up minutes before the upcoming international break, but I don’t think there’s a real chance of this. On the plus side, he did join the team training session on Thursday, so that’s a positive start! Luis Diaz’s recovery is also taking more time than we thought. I don’t think he’ll be in the starting XI in the first match against FC Köln after the international break. After that, he should catch up, and I hope we’ll see him soon, as we really need him. We were all really happy that Michael Olise could play in Madrid; otherwise, the squad is looking really thin. We need every player now.

→ Become a Bayern Insider: Luis Diaz forcing Munich’s hand as Florian Wirtz regen enters shortlist

Bayern Munich are pretty consistent with how they treat young players when they’re not performing well. Lennart Karl’s performance struggles, of course, aren’t helped when you’ve also got outside noise stemming from his social media activity, having a new girlfriend who’s an influencer, or showing up in a pink tracksuit during an important game. These are strange things and Bayern always care about keeping their young talents grounded and level-headed, as Uli Hoeneß noted when he was saying Karl is ‘far from being a superstar’. Of course, when you do this, you open the door for criticism. There was a lot of criticism for Lennart Karl, who played okay in the last few matches but not quite at the same level he was performing at before his injury last season. Michael Ballack, who’s Karl’s agent and a commentator on DAZN, fiercely defended his client, which is part of his role. It is what it is: the club have to keep Lennart Karl on the straight and narrow, but also the agent has to stand up for his player and his well-being as an 18-year-old.

Everyone is doing what they have to do. Now, the most important thing is how Karl moves on from here. I don’t think his celebration (against Atletico) was not the best answer, but his goal was the right answer. You can see he’s developing from a young player into a potential future superstar. However, there will be an upward curve. As Konrad Laimer rightly noted, Lennart Karl will be a big player but he’s got some things to learn. When he’s scoring such important goals frequently for FC Bayern, there won’t be any problems. You have to perform consistently, and then you can behave like Michael Olise! But only if you play like Michael Olise.

Bayern were always in talks with JJ Gabriel’s agents and the player himself, who has visited the club in the past. This was always an option. Of course, as we’ve previously reported on Bayern Insider, Bayern Munich were always behind Real Madrid and FC Barcelona in the race for the Manchester United jewel. Spain was on the mind of JJ Gabriel. Also, the numbers these clubs were prepared to commit to for such a super talent were not the numbers Bayern were prepared to pay for the 16-year-old. There were talks, if not quite concrete negotiations, so we can’t say that Bayern Munich were pushing really hard for the forward. Bayern are interested but Real Madrid were simply more concrete.

Despite the injuries Bayern are having to deal with, they don’t think they’re going to do a deal for an attacker in the upcoming window. There was a chance for JJ Gabriel to go to Madrid in the winter window, and now he’s set to. Bayern Munich are out of the race, but they have a list of players they can look at to reinforce the forward line. I have one interesting name I’d like to share: Oskar Pietuszewski (18) of Porto. He’s also playing on the left wing and an exciting young talent. So, you can see that there are lots of these kinds of players on the shortlist at FC Bayern. The Mirror reported again about Junior Kroupi of Bournemouth. Bayern Munich had him on the list in the past, and he’s still on the list now. So, you can see that there are many, many names Bayern like, and they are prepared in the ongoing hunt for a backup signing for Luis Diaz. However, it’s not going to happen this winter – we’ll have to wait for the summer.

Bayern ultimately decided not to sign a backup winger in the last summer transfer window. Lennart Karl had a lot of playing time in the past because they didn’t look to sign another player for the right wing, which then gave the young German a chance. And you saw how well he performed last season, particularly over a period between October to December. Bayern Munich also went on to sign Ismael Saibari and he needs minutes – so there’s less playing time for Karl. If you’re going to sign a new player now for the left wing, you’re going to have very little time for a promising young star in Tim Binder (19). If you want the next Lennart Karl, you need to give him minutes. Now, with players out injured, it’s a perfect time to see if Binder is of a Bayern standard.

It is TRUE: Antonio Nusa was on Bayern’s radar in the summer. Max Eberl loves this player and would really like to bring him to Bayern Munich. As I mentioned, Bayern were looking for a potential backup option to Luis Diaz, but Nusa is no “backup”. He wants frequent game time in the starting XI. Also, it’s worth noting that RB Leipzig paid €21m [£17.5m] for the Norway international; great business it has to be said. However, if Bayern Munich are at the table, €21m will not be enough. I heard that there were talks in the range of €50m-60m [£41.6m-50m]. This would have been too much for a backup signing. So, I don’t think there’s a chance to bring Nusa to Munich next summer but in the end you have to see what happens with the other players. We’ve mentioned players who are two or three years younger and can develop. But if it doesn’t work out, like with JJ Gabriel, perhaps Nusa can come up in conversation again. Of course, negotiations between RB Leipzig are Bayern Munich typically difficult and expensive! So, I’m not sure if it will work.

It is NOT TRUE: Bayern Munich have talked about the possibility of bringing Jadon Sancho in. He’s been without a club since the summer and he’s not a player Bayern are looking at right now. It would cause some trouble bringing such a player in, as he’d want a big salary and regular minutes. It’s a difficult situation and Bayern don’t want to invite problems. So they just don’t need Sancho at the moment.

It is TRUE: Bayern Munich were prepared to pay €70m [£58.3m] for Rio Ngumoha. As we know, Bayern have been searching really hard for options on the left wing. We talked about Bradley Barcola, whom they were in contact with, and they were also in contact with Liverpool’s young talent. There were talks, his brother talked with FC Bayern, but it was a difficult situation for Bayern Munich. It was not clear if Liverpool would sell him or not. The price wouldn’t have been extremely high. So, you see, the club’s decision-makers feel he’d be a great option for Bayern Munich, which is why Ngumoha is still on Bayern’s shortlist. In the end, they had to decide for Ismael Saibari. Rio would have been complicated, so they just looked to seal the comparatively easier transfer of the two. Bayern are still in talks with Ngumoha’s camp, however, and he could be an option for the summer.

It is NOT TRUE: Bayern Munich have joined Premier League clubs in holding interest in Désiré Doué. He’s a very exciting player, and Bayern tried to get him at Säbener Straße but it was too expensive at the time and he decided to go to Paris. It’s one of those transfers where you feel, if you couldn’t sign him as a young talent when everyone wanted him, you’re not going to sign him as a more seasoned professional. He’s doing so well in Paris, and there’s just no chance of Bayern paying the price PSG would want (though they don’t want to sell him) for the attacker’s services. I’m very sorry, but it’s just too late to make this transfer for Bayern Munich. The silver lining, of course, is that Bayern caught on very early how good this player could be, so it’s clear that Bayern Munich’s instincts are very much on the money. However, they don’t have the money, like other clubs do, to stockpile players in this age range.

It is NOT TRUE: Martin Ødegaard could imagine signing for Bayern Munich. He’s now too old and far too good for it to be an option for FC Bayern – especially at a time when the club is already fully stocked in this position. Remember, when he was very, very young (I think about 16 or so), he was at Säbener Straße for a training session week when Pep Guardiola was the manager. At this point, it was very interesting for FC Bayern to sign the player, but they didn’t get him in the end. It’s always nice to see such names connected with the Bundesliga giants, but he won’t be coming to Bayern any time soon. Sorry!

I can say it’s not true that Bayern are concretely interested in Nick Woltemade at the moment. I won’t say that he’s categorically not an idea for the future. However, he has to perform. He has scored a few goals for Juventus, but most of these are penalties. He’s not in the starting XI in the league and it’s the same problem in the national team. Ultimately, we have to see more of the performances he was putting in during his peak at VfB Stuttgart. At the moment, he looks a shadow of the player we all saw and enjoyed in the Bundesliga. Of course, we have to emphasise that he’s young (24), he has talent and can play. Bayern Munich and him, they have history. So, never say never, but it’s not a definite move Bayern are making at this stage.

It is TRUE: Bayern are looking to sign a centre-back in the next summer transfer window. This will be very interesting for us all to follow, as there are so many concrete names at the moment. I have one I want to talk about, because he’s been on the list now for several seasons, and this is Tomás Araújo of Benfica. He’s not so expensive and he’s 24 years old. He would be very interesting for Bayern and you could get him for about €35m-40m [£29.1m-33.3m]. At the moment, of course, you don’t what’s happening with Min-jae Kim who’s playing really well ahead of Jonathan Tah for many games. Tah’s going through a bit of a mini-crisis at the minute, so you have to see. Can you sell one of the players? Araújo would be a name, but there are many rumours around, which indicates that Bayern are searching intensively. TEAMtalk was talking about Lucas Herrington from Manchester City. I’m not sure why, I’m not sure if that’s true. Transfer insider Ekrem Konur talked about Tarik Muharemović (23) at Leeds United. I’d be a little sceptical about this rumour, but Bayern do have their scouts around, and there’s no smoke without fire! In the end, Bayern Munich have to see if they can sell, for example, Hiroki Ito, they have to see Min-jae Kim will stay, and then they can go through their list of centre-backs.