News from Bayern Munich will probably be greeted with considerable interest from both sides of Manchester, with the Bavarians chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge suggesting that the club are preparing a summer clear-out, with attractive names being considered to leave the Allianz Arena.
Alongside players such as Juan Bernat Velasco, Thiago Alcântara, and former Manchester United target Arturo Vidal all welcome to leave the Bundesliga champions if substantial offers are received, ex-Manchester City defender Jérôme Boateng is also under consideration to be allowed to depart, and it is Manchester United who are said to be expressing appeal.
In an interviewer with German publisher Bild, Rummenigge has stated "If a club comes along and Jerome Boateng expresses his desire to transfer, then we will deal with the situation, but the transfer fee won't be low.”
The fee expected for the defender is expected to be set around £50million. His contract runs for another three years, until 2021, after signing a six-year contract in 2015.
Boateng spent only one season at the Etihad, but was part of the team that ended Manchester City’s 39-year trophy drought, when they won the FA Cup against Stoke City at Wembley.
Brought in by manager Roberto Mancini for £11.25million from Hamburg, Boateng returned to the Bundesliga just a year later when he signed for Munich in the summer of 2011 and has enjoyed considerable success ever since.
The German defender has accumulated fourteen trophies inns home country, including a run of six league titles and the Champions League in 2013.
Most significantly, Boateng was part of the Germany team to win the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
With a new manager replacing Jupp Heynckes after the Munich legend’s fourth spell in charge of the club, in the form of Niko Kovač from Eintracht Frankfurt, a revitalised Bayern will be looking to challenge for the Champions League next season, as well as retaining the Bundesliga for the seventh consecutive time.
As revealed by The Sportsman recently, Boateng is included on a shortlist of eight players Manchester United are considering an approach for this summer. Whilst Tottenham Hotspur’s Toby Alderweireld remains a top priority, Boateng would surely prove to be an excellent acquisition should any potential deal with hard-ball Spurs not come into fruition. His versatility means he can play either centre-back or right-back.
The 29-year old German international would be one of the only players to move, albeit it indirectly, from the Blue side of Manchester to the red. Wyn Davies did so in a straight transfer in the ‘60s, with Billy Meredith also moving at the beginning of the 20th Century. Denis Law’s time at Manchester United was infamously bookended at spells at City.
It’s early days to debate whether Jérôme Boateng will be playing in red next season, with the defender currently on international duty with Germany, but it is a transfer that should accumulate considerable interest in the North-West of England in the next few months.
