"If we don't sell Kim Min-jae, I'll be fired": A matter of life and death for the Munich director... Despite his desire to stay, he is a candidate for release

*This content was translated by AI.

'Monster defender' Kim Min-jae (30) has been included in the list of players to be released by Bayern Munich this summer. The results of these sales are expected to have a significant impact on the fate of Munich Director Max Eberl (53). Although Kim Min-jae is reported to want to stay, Director Eberl is increasingly likely to actively restructure the squad and sell players to secure his own position.

Barian Football Works, which mainly covers Bayern Munich news, reported on the 6th (Korean time) that "Director Eberl could face difficulties if he fails to carry out the mandatory sales work properly this summer."

According to reports, Director Eberl, who has been working in Munich since 2024, wants to keep his position in the future. It was reported that in February, Director Eberl actively explained to reporters how successful the major acquisitions he led were. In particular, he emphasized his position by presenting comparative data showing that Luis Dias and Michael Olise were more effective than the previous side combination of Leroy Sane (Galatasaray) and Kingsley Coman (Al-Nassr) in terms of records, injury rates, and injury history.

However, Director Eberl still faces another challenge: squad restructuring. He must sell players who have not firmly secured their places in the team's power structure this summer to restructure the squad and reduce the overall salary burden. In particular, high-salary players are bound to face greater pressure. Kim Min-jae is also being mentioned as one of these candidates.

Kim Min-jae is known to be one of the highest-paid players in the Munich squad. However, his current status is not as strong as before. He has been pushed down to the third option for center-backs. Bayern Munich manager Vincent Kompany named Jonathan Tah and Dayot Upamecano as the starting center-back pairing last season, which was a great success. Munich reached the top of the German Bundesliga and the German Football Association (DFB) Cup. They also advanced to the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League (UCL).

The problem is that Kim Min-jae does not want to transfer. Reports continue to circulate that Luciano Spalletti, the Juventus (Italy) manager who previously coached Kim Min-jae at his former club Napoli (Italy), wants to sign Kim Min-jae. However, Kim Min-jae is reportedly satisfied with his role as the third option at Bayern and wants to stay in Munich.

The media also noted, "Director Eberl must sell five players this summer. However, one of them will be a very difficult task." Along with Kim Min-jae, Japanese center-back Hiroki Ito is also included in the list of players to be released. In addition, the status of players who were on loan, such as Joao Palhinha, Alexander Nubel, Sascha Boey, and Brian Saragosa, is also unstable.

Director Eberl is expected to show results in squad restructuring before the board meeting in August, when his fate will be decided. The biggest variable is, of course, Kim Min-jae. The media explained, "Kim Min-jae does not strongly want to transfer and wants to stay with the team."

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*This content was translated by AI.