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Another Bayern star in contract dispute
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Reading Time: 3min | Tue. 10.03.26. | 13:16
The Austrian international wants bigger wage than Olise and Gnabry
FC Bayern Munich completed three very important pieces of business during February. After long and difficult negotiations, Dayot Upamecano and Serge Gnabry signed new contracts. As expected, young talent Lennart Karl was also “tied down” with a new deal, while excellent preliminary talks were held with Harry Kane about his staying in Munich even beyond June 2027. For a moment it seemed that director Max Eberl and his colleagues would be able to fully focus on the upcoming transfer window (especially since the situation with Leon Goretzka had already been resolved with his expected departure). However, a problem suddenly appeared where nobody expected it — and its name is Konrad Laimer (28).
What was initially supposed to be a mere formality became so complicated that the club they decided to put everything aside, at least for a while — until tempers cool down. So what happened? Laimer’s representatives approached the German champions’ management with a demand of 15,000,000 euros per year in salary for their client to sign a new contract. At first glance it may not seem outrageous, but the picture becomes clearer when you consider that in Munich players such as Michael Olise, Luis Díaz, and even Serge Gnabry currently earn less — not to mention Aleksandar Pavlović or Josip Stanišić.
“It’s true that we wanted to extend Konny’s contract. Talks were held, but everything is currently on hold. There’s no resentment and no bad blood on either side. We have our ideas, they have theirs. For us to move forward, those ideas will have to align. Right now we’re very, very far from anything that could be called an agreement,” Eberl said yesterday.
At Bayern, it is clear they do not want to escalate the rhetoric immediately. They would prefer to avoid another long negotiation saga and disputes with agents — similar to the one they had with Upamecano. However, it is also evident that the club will not fight as hard for the former RB Leipzig midfielder as they did for the French center-back. That likely explains the relaxed tone in Eberl’s voice. The truth is that Laimer has become an extremely important piece in the system of coach Vincent Kompany — just like Upamecano — but it should also be remembered that the player will be 30 years old when his current contract expires. Bayern are also planning to sign a natural right-back in the near future.
In any case, Laimer’s representatives clearly tried to take maximum advantage of the Austrian’s current importance to Bayern’s team — and probably also of the fact that the Munich club, despite constant announcements about reducing costs, keeps increasing its wage bill with every new contract. According to some sources, Bayern’s annual salary budget has already surpassed 250,000,000 euros, placing the German giant among the very top football employers in the world.
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After all, very few clubs can boast of having so many players earning more than 20,000,000 per year — such as Harry Kane, Manuel Neuer, Joshua Kimmich, Jamal Musiala, and Alphonso Davies (although Davies reaches that level only when bonuses are included, just like Upamecano). On top of that, more than half of the squad earns over 10,000,000 per year (again, in several cases including bonuses). And there is more: rumors suggest that Harry Kane’s next contract could be even richer than his current one. For reference, the English striker currently earns around 25,000,000 euros gross per year.
UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE - ROUND OF 16
Tuesday
20.45: (4.30) Galatasaray (4.05) Liverpool (1.85)
23.00: (4.70) Atalanta (4.50) Bayern (1.70)
23.00: (1.73) Atl.Madrid (3.60) Tottenham (5.10)
23.00: (2.70) Newcastle (4.00) Barcelona (2.45)
Wednesday
20.45: (5.65) Leverkusen (4.30) Arsenal (1.62)
23.00: (2.60) Bodo (3.80) Sporting (2.65)
23.00: (2.00) PSG (3.60) Chelsea (4.00)
23.00: (3.50) Real Madrid (3.90) Man.City (2.05)
***odds are subject to change***