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He uses the battery of his smartphone to the utmost.

Hasan Salihamidzic, 44, calls a lot and writes countless messages.

Until the end of this week at the training ground in the sun in Qatar, now again in wintry Germany.

Management planning in the mobile office.

For the sports director of FC Bayern it is important to make the team ready for the future.

Salihamidzic hardly has any time to rest.

He only came back from the Club World Cup in Doha on Sunday, where the Munich team won their sixth title within a year.

The Bundesliga away game against Arminia Bielefeld will continue on Monday evening (8.30 p.m., in the WELT live ticker).

In the midst of the stressful Corona game schedule, Salihamidzic is working on the Bayern team for the new season.

And was able to spread good news shortly after returning to Germany.

From the coming season they will be teammates - Bayern’s Thomas Müller (left) and Upamecano

Source: pa / SvenSimon / Frank Hoermann / SVEN SIMON

Dayot Upamecano, 22, will strengthen the Bayern defense from the summer.

His contract with RB Leipzig was valid until the summer of 2023, but due to an exit clause he can change for 42.5 million euros after this season.

The people of Munich are now making this money easily, and that in difficult times.

Although the record champions have to save because of Corona - President Herbert Hainer recently spoke of a EUR 100 million decline in sales - but the club is investing the money for Upamecano with conviction.

Inside the club it was clear early on that this transfer would have the highest priority, even higher than soliciting Borussia Mönchengladbach's midfielder Florian Neuhaus, which would probably also cost over 40 million euros.

Florian Neuhaus from Borussia Mönchengladbach

Source: dpa-infocom GmbH

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However, English clubs also tried everything to get Upamecano.

Liverpool FC in the person of coach Jürgen Klopp is said to have had great interest, it is said, because defense chief Virgil van Dijk is missing because of a torn cruciate ligament.

It is said that Thomas Tuchel had already tried to lure the Leipziger to Paris when he was still a coach there.

The numbers speak for Upamecano: Before this matchday, RB Leipzig had the best defensive in the league with only 18 goals conceded, until then they had ten games without conceding - also thanks to the 1.86 meter tall and 90 kilogram heavy muscle man.

The French international has only missed four league games since returning after his knee injury in September 2019, only goalkeeper Gulacsi made more appearances for RB during this period.

Five-year contract for Upamecano

Probably not entirely by chance he sat on the bench for 90 minutes in the 2-1 win against Augsburg on Friday evening.

The Leipzig coach Julian Nagelsmann will hardly be happy to lose the defense chief, even if he brings them a lot of money.

Money, however, is traditionally not the problem at RB.

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Upamecano gets a five-year contract with FC Bayern.

“We knew that we had very tough competition.

I was always convinced that we came up with a good concept.

We presented him with our vision of his career at FC Bayern, ”said Salihamidzic in“ Bild ”.

During the past week in Doha, he spoke again with everyone involved, reported the sports director.

"At the end of a long process, the players, family and management were convinced that FC Bayern was the right partner."

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Ralf Rangnick discovered the French when he was 16 and played for Valenciennes FC in France.

Rangnick brought him to RB Salzburg.

Even then, FC Bayern should have been interested.

Two years later, Rangnick brought Upamecano to Leipzig.

And the young professional developed into an international star.

In all important categories such as ball actions, duel rate in the air and pass rate, it is above the average of the Bundesliga.

Upamecano would also be the right man for Bayern's development game, his pass rate is one of the best at RB.

And with a sprint speed of 35.4, Upamecano is the fastest defender in the league and the fifth fastest player in Germany.

Bayern's defense is vulnerable

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The transfer makes sense: The record champions lead the league table confidently, in the Champions League they qualified for the round of 16, scored a total of 81 goals and set records this season.

But even if Bayern defended much better recently than in December last year - defensively they are more vulnerable than for a long time.

In the first 20 league games, their rivals met 26 times, so many goals they had conceded often not even in a whole season.

The team only stayed five times without conceding a goal.

And in the summer, she loses her defense chief David Alaba, 28, who is likely to leave the club.

Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer has more to do in the current season than he should like

Source: pa / dpa / AFP-Pool / Guenter Schiffmann

The defensive is therefore the focus of Salihamidzic's planning, the construction site is the defense this year.

Whether Bayern will offer Jérôme Boateng, 32, a new contract is open.

The contract of the last formally strong world champion from 2014 ends on June 30th, talks should take place in March.

Boateng has inquiries from other major clubs.

Should he also change, a Bayern defense breaks apart, which won the triple in the previous season and shaped an era.

“Jérôme and David did an outstanding job in central defense,” said coach Hans-Dieter “Hansi” Flick recently.

Salihamidzic's record purchase Lucas Hernández continues to have a difficult time.

The French world champion cost 80 million euros, but has not yet made it to the regular team.

Flick used it several times on the left - or not at all.

Hernández would like to play central, but Flick trusts others.

Full-back Benjamin Pavard can be used centrally, but has weaknesses in the build-up of the game.

In Niklas Süle, 25, Bayern bought a player four years ago who will be the new head of defense.

So far, Süle has played many good games, but - also because of a serious knee injury - has not developed into a strong defensive organizer.

The Bavarians therefore put everything on Upamecano.

So far, Salihamidzic Süles has not extended the current contract until June 30, 2022, Chelsea should be interested in the national player.

Should Süle be sold in the summer, Bayern would have to invest even more in their defense.

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The development of the Munich defensive chain is also important for Joachim Löw.

With a view to the EM planned for summer, the national coach is hoping for a safe Süle, a Bayern block was often a guarantee of success in the past.

Bayern looking for a right-back

Should Süle change, a second right-back would be necessary next to Bouna Sarr, the access has not yet convinced.

Tanguy Nianzou, signed by Paris St. Germain, is considered one of the most promising defensive talents in Europe, but only played a few minutes for the Munich team due to an injury.

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Salihamidzic works closely with head scout Marco Neppe on the squad planning.

They create lineups with possible accesses, which they call "shadow teams", and observe, among others, the left-back Borna Sosa, 23, from VfB Stuttgart and Marco Friedl, 22, from Werder Bremen.

Omar Richards, 22, from Reading FC and Luca Netz, 17, from Hertha BSC are also candidates.

This text is from WELT AM SONNTAG.

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Source: WORLD