Bayer Leverkusen News

Home

Quizzes

Newsletter

Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images

Bayern Munich Have Hit A Stand Still In Talks With Crucial Player

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Tom Vinall | Last updated Oct 7, 2025 8:30 AM ET

Highlights

Talks have been ongoing since last season
Sticking point reached
No signs of a compromise as of now

At the moment, Bayern Munich are the only club in the top five leagues to have won all of their league games so far this season. They have won all six Bundesliga games, scoring 25 goals and conceding just three times.

It's worth pointing out that Serie A is the only other top five league to have also played just six games. For example, Real Madrid have won more games than Bayern in the league this season - seven - but lost to rivals Atletico Madrid.

Nevertheless, a very impressive start to the season, at both ends of the pitch. One of the main reasons why they've only conceded three goals has been the excellent performances of central defender Dayot Upamecano.

Truth be told, ever since Vincent Kompany arrived at the club last summer, Upamecano has been very good. Perhaps it is no surprise that under a former elite defender like Kompany, his performances would improve.

During the 23/24 season under Thomas Tuchel, the Frenchman found himself on the bench towards the end of the season, behind Matthijs de Ligt and Eric Dier in the pecking order. Now, however, he has gone up to new levels under the Belgian manager.

However, there is one issue. Upamecano's contract runs out next summer, so he could leave the club on a free transfer. From January onwards, he will have permission to speak to clubs from outside of Germany.

According to German outlet BILD, via iMiaSanMia, Bayern and Upamecano are almost in agreement over the player's wages. However, the sticking point is a signing on fee.

When Alphonso Davies extended his contract earlier this year, he received a signing on fee of 17 million Euros. As per the BILD report, Upamecano's camp want the same for the player, which is something Bayern aren't willing to do.

This is a big issue for Bayern. Sure, another 17 million Euros signing on fee is far from ideal, and you can understand their reluctance to pay that. However, to replace someone of Upamecano's quality will cost a lot more than that.

So you probably have to bite the bullet and pay him that fee, especially when it comes from a precedent that you set yourselves, earlier this year. It cannot be overstated just how important the French defender is to Bayern.

With the way Kompany wants to play - high line, lots of territory in the opponent's third - Bayern defenders have to cover a lot of space in order to stop dangerous transitions. Upamecano is excellent at defending big spaces and putting out fires.

Particularly with Jonathan Tah now at the club - a fine defender in his own right, but not the most mobile of players. It would be extremely hard for Bayern to play this high octane style of play without Upamecano.

Furthermore, the 26-year old is an excellent ball player, and is crucial to Bayern's build up. So with him gone, you lose a lot of threat both defensively and with the ball. He is simply worth the signing on fee.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: