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Bavarian buyers
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Bayern Munich are wasting no time in their attempts to revamp their squad for next season ahead of this summer’s World Cup. The Bundesliga champions were heavily linked with a move for Newcastle winger Anthony Gordon before he made a €80 million to Barcelona, but have reportedly wasted no time in chasing down an alternative transfer target. According to Fabrizio Romano, Bayern have now made a concrete effort to sign PSV attacking midfielder Ismael Saibari, with the transfer guru stating that Vincent Kompany has already given his consent to sign the player, and terms have been agreed between Saibari and his potential suitors.
How good is Ismael Saibari?
Saibari was undoubtedly one of the best players in Dutch football last season, as PSV strolled to the Eredivisie title and won it at record-breaking speed. Over the course of the campaign, Saibari bagged an impressive 15 goals and eight assists in 27 league games, which worked out at a goal or assist every 93 minutes of football. Only two other players in the Dutch top-flight amassed more goal contributions last season - Ajax left winger Mika Godts and Feyenoord centre forward Ayase Ueda - who both played further up the pitch. Due to his impressive campaign, Saibari’s market value rose by a remarkable 48% or €13m over the course of the season, which was the fourth highest among all Eredivisie players.
“Saibari was perhaps the best player in the Eredivisie this season,” Transfermarkt’s Area Manager for the Netherlands, Jesper Siereveld, said in the recent Eredivisie market value update. “The Africa Cup of Nations winner was hugely important this season in the number 8, number 10 and striker roles, both in the Eredivisie and the Champions League. It will be interesting to see what transfer fee PSV will get for the Moroccan, given that he is ‘already’ 25. However, it seems a certainty that he will join the top three most expensive sales ever for the Eindhoven club.” PSV’s record sale remains Hirving Lozano’s €50m move to Napoli in 2020, but should Saibari break into the club’s three biggest sales of all time, then Bayern will have to fork over more than €35m for the Moroccan talent’s signature.
Why are Bayern signing Ismael Saibari?
As Siereveld eluded to, Saibari was not only one of PSV’s most important players this season, but he also performed admirably in several positions. Over the course of the season, the 25-year-old talent played in at least four different positions. While Saibari was played as a central attacking midfielder for the vast majority of the time (26 games), he also played as a centre forward (five games), a left winger (three games) and a defensive midfielder (three games). This, undoubtedly, is what has attracted the interest of Bayern.
While Kompany can call upon a star-studded starting XI of Harry Kane, Michael Olise & Co., the German giants struggled with a lack of depth last season. As such, the club were forced to rush young attacking stars like Lennart Karl and Jamal Musiala back from injury ahead of schedule just to fill their bench in some futures. Should they complete a deal for Saibari, the Moroccan international will almost certainly prove to be a useful utility player that can fill in across the front line, as well as in the centre of midfield as a playmaker.
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