Leipzig angry about Laimer: Bayern coach Nagelsmann breaks his word

FC Bayern is still looking for a midfield clearer and has set its sights on Konrad Laimer as the last summer transfer target.

Leipzig angry about Laimer: Bayern coach Nagelsmann breaks his word

FC Bayern is still looking for a midfield clearer and has set its sights on Konrad Laimer as the last summer transfer target. Coach Julian Nagelsmann has known and appreciated him since the RB time together. The people of Leipzig are very upset about this flirt, which apparently will soon become a liaison.

Oliver Mintzlaff is just tired of it. "I hope," said the boss of RB Leipzig annoyed a few days ago, "that Bayern will find other ideas and don't always get our players." It seems to remain a pious wish. Before the Supercup duel between the clubs on Saturday (8.30 p.m. on Sat1, Sky and in the ntv.de live ticker), Konrad Laimer, the next player from Leipzig, is about to make the leap to Bayern Munich. Coach Julian Nagelsmann had promised when he left Saxony in 2021 that he would “not start digging on the players now” and certainly not “rent a T6” to cart all the stars to Munich.

But after Nagelsmann and the coaching team, defense chief Dayot Upamecano and captain Marcel Sabitzer last year, the next pillar is now threatening to break away for the Saxons. "Konny is extremely important for our game, so we don't want to lose him," emphasized Mintzlaff. His pain threshold for the 24-year-old Laimer should be 30 million euros. He is likely to move on a free transfer next summer, which is why Bayern is said to be offering “only” up to 23 million (including bonuses) for the sixth and last desired player on their transfer bill, which is around 200 million euros including the special payments.

Weakening the competition with transfers worth millions has been well-established practice at the record champions for decades. Although the former CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge claimed in 2020 that FC Bayern had "never" signed a player with this goal. Oh well. Calle Del'Haye is considered the mother of these transfers and the Fall of Man. The attacker came in 1980 for then crazy 1.265 million marks from the former permanent rival from Gladbach - and soured in Munich on the bench. Four years later, Borussia had long since passed their golden years, FCB also got rid of a certain Lothar Matthäus there.

In 1989 they signed defense chief Jürgen Kohler from runners-up Cologne, then they weakened their opponents Kaiserslautern by transferring Bruno Labbadia and Ciriaco Sforza. In the mid-1990s it was Werder Bremen's turn, which lost the stars Andreas Herzog and Mario Basler and coach Otto Rehhagel within two years. From 2013 to 2016, FC Bayern brought in Mario Götze, Robert Lewandowski and Mats Hummels from BVB.

So now Leipzig. "We're in the driver's seat - when we do things, they have to go according to our ideas," emphasized Mintzlaff. For a possible Laimer transfer, RB has set a deadline until the Supercup duel - FC Bayern will only get the "pressing machine" that Nagelsmann so longs for if he significantly increases his offer. "It may also be that we keep him and go into the last year of his contract and don't get a fee," said Mintzlaff on ServusTV. Bayern, it is said, are still optimistic. After all, they are familiar with transfers from the competition.