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| 사진=Football Central |
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Japanese superstar Kaoru Mitoma is likely to move to Bayern Munich. The winger Bayern was aiming for was not Son Heung-min.
Florian Flettenberg, a reporter for Germany's Sky Sports, said on the 23rd (Korea time) "Mitoma is very open about moving to Bayern this summer."," he said.
"Bayern is currently showing a specific interest in Mitoma, the 28-year-old Japanese winger, and meetings and discussions have already been held with his agents," Flettenberg said, but added that the club's sporting director Max Ebele has yet to make an official offer.
He continued "Bayern's future moves will depend heavily on the situation surrounding Florian Birtz.Mitoma is being considered a replacement for Kingsley Coman and Leroy Sane," he reported.
Bayern has sought to change its second-line resources since last summer. This is because the slump of Comang, Sane and Serge Gnabry was very serious. Michael Olise was hired as a result, but Coman, Sane and Gnabry all failed to sell because they had no intention of leaving Bayern. Another problem was that the three players' salaries were too high.
Rumors of Bayern's transfer of wingers continued in the transfer market last winter. One of the players whose name came out at that time is Son Heung-min. Before Tottenham triggered Son Heung-min's contract extension clause, Harry Kane made a lot of headlines when he said he wanted to recruit Son Heung-min among Tottenham players. However, this was only Kane's wish, and Bayern did not actually target Son Heung-min. Tottenham also extended Son Heung-min's contract, effectively ending the transfer rumor.
Bayern wanted the winger veterans to be revived as they spent the winter quietly, but nothing changed. Bayern tried to re-sign Sane by lowering his salary, but Sane suddenly changed his mind and is looking for a transfer to another team. If Sane, Comang and Gnabry leave, Bayern will have to sign a new winger, but Mitoma is on the list.
Mitoma is currently one of the stars representing Japanese soccer. After distinguishing himself from J-League powerhouse Kawasaki Frontale, he moved to Brighton in the Premier League (EPL) in the summer of 2021 and challenged the European stage. Brighton sent Mitoma on a one-year loan to Belgian club Winion Saint-Jillouise to help him adjust, which became a successful preparation period.
Mitoma, who made his Premier League debut after returning to loan, quickly became Brighton's main player. His sharp dribbling and speedy play from the side caught the eye of many, and he clearly imprinted his presence with 10 goals and 8 assists in 41 games in his debut season alone. Thanks to the performance, the interest of big clubs also naturally followed.
Brighton immediately made Mitoma's future by signing a long-term contract until 2027 to block a potential transfer. However, in the second season, Mitoma was less active than expected as he suffered a second-year jinx.
In his third season in the EPL, Mitoma shook off last season's sluggishness. He showed a sharp performance again this season as he reached the top of the league's 10 goals for the first time in the history of the Japanese EPL Leaguer. Mitoma received an offer from Saudi Arabia's al-Nasr in the transfer market last winter, but did not want to transfer. It was because he had the will to move to a European big club.
Mitoma's trip to Bayern doesn't seem like a big deal if it leads to a proposal of interest from Bayern. Birtz, who is currently Bayern's top target, is determined to go to Liverpool, so Bayern does not seem to have a big financial problem in recruiting Mitoma.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
