With Sadio Mané’s first training session, FC Bayern’s pre-season preparations have picked up speed. The new signing from Liverpool FC trained with the team for the first time. The national players around Joshua Kimmich are back. Some stars are still missing.
The new Bayern star Sadio Mané listened intently to the speech by coach Julian Nagelsmann with his arms crossed in front of his chest. During the warm-up that followed, the Liverpool-signed spectacle player had a grin on his face as he trotted in his orange boots alongside Alphonso Davies.
Training start also for national players and newcomer Mazraoui
The Senegalese, who was bought for over 30 million euros, started preparing for the new season in the Bundesliga at his first session in Munich on Friday, as did a number of other stars. The vacation returnees Joshua Kimmich, Serge Gnabry, Leon Goretzka, Kingsley Coman and Alphonso Davies made coach Nagelsmann sweat as well as the newcomer Noussair Mazraoui brought in from Ajax Amsterdam.
Complete team next week – with Lewandowski?
Mazraoui’s teammate from last year, Ryan Gravenberch, had already started working in the new team at the beginning of the week. Next Tuesday, national players like Manuel Neuer or Thomas Müller and world footballer Robert Lewandowski should also join the squad. Unless a surprisingly quick agreement is reached with FC Barcelona at Lewandowski.
Who else is new?
Mané, Mazraoui and Gravenberch are already fixed, other new stars are still being discussed. Speculated commitments like those of Central defender Matthijs de Ligt (22) from Juventus Turin and midfielder Konrad Laimer (25) from RB Leipzig could ensure that there is another big Munich transfer summer. “Fresh blood and changes in the squad” to set “stimulus points” was the announcement from CEO Oliver Kahn, who had repeatedly ruled out a change from Lewandowski.
Defense needs to be strengthened
The eleventh championship title in a row should be here, but also in Europe’s best league in the new season the quarter-finals shouldn’t be the terminus like the last two times. “We want a squad with which we can ideally win the Champions League,” Kahn recently told the “Kicker”. There he pointed out the need for reinforcements in the defense headquarters. Basically, one is satisfied with the quality, said the CEO, who was already a world-class goalkeeper. “But we can improve in terms of leadership, volume and presence,” said Kahn.
Nagelsmann has to deliver
Exciting weeks lie ahead for the Munich team, and the pressure to succeed on Nagelsmann is growing. “We are condemned to success at Bayern, he knows that too,” said Kahn.
However, Nagelsmann does not have much time for the pre-season. The Bayern stars will present themselves to their fans in the Allianz Arena on Saturday in a week’s time, after which they will go on a week-long trip to the USA with two friendlies and PR appointments.
The first important showdown of the summer for FC Bayern is the German Supercup on July 30th at cup winners RB Leipzig. The Munich team will start the Bundesliga season on August 5th with Europa League winners Eintracht Frankfurt. In the DFB Cup on August 31, Viktoria Köln’s amateurs are the first-round opponents.
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Source: BR24Sport 08.07.2022 – 4:55 p.m
