Bayern Munich announces the departure of defender Zolle next June
Bayern Munich CEO Oliver Kahn announced today that international defender Niklas Zule, whose contract expires in June, will leave the club at the end of the season when he becomes a free agent.
"The negotiations went on for a very long time," Kahn said in a press conference. "We made him an offer and he did not accept it. Therefore, he will leave the club at the end of the season."
The Bavarian club's historic goalkeeper added that they put in a "very good offer" for the 26-year-old defender, who also played 37 caps for Germany, adding, "But we have to respect certain economic limits."
The specialized "Transfermarkt" website estimates the player's value at 35 million euros, knowing that he joined the Bavarian giant in 2017 from Hoffenheim for 20 million euros.
The huge defender (1.95 m and 99 kg) has appeared 158 times in the red shirt since his arrival at the Allianz Arena.
Zule won the historic treble with the Bavarian team, including the Champions League, but he missed the first six months of the current season after rupturing the cruciate ligament in the knee for the second time in his career.
Even if coach Julian Nagelsmann's confidence is restored, the French Daewoo Upamecano and Lucas Hernandez are ahead of him in the coach's calculations.
And German media reports indicated that club officials met the agent of Chelsea defender Andreas Christensen last December.
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