Xherdan Shaqiri

[Hatem Ben Arfa]

Great player and a great move for him.

He will play loads as Robben always has injuries for lengthy spells.

He'll go on to a totally different level.

[AnfieldEd]

Bayern will probably sell Robben or Ribery and make a killing in the process with the fee.

[el tren]

Unfortunately the purchase of Shaqiri probably means that Usami will not get a contract on return to Japan. The kid is a real talent as well but you cannot have them all.

Usami is sure to leave Bayern in summer, but he wants to stay in europe. Cant say much about him as he has hardly any significant minutes on the pitch.

[el tren]

Bayern will probably sell Robben or Ribery and make a killing in the process with the fee.

Unlikely. Ribery extended already and is happy. And Robben is said to be extending soon as well. Him being on the bench yesterday could have an impact, but generally id say he looks good to stay.

Actually, most ppl hope for Gomez to leave and earn Bayern some cash for defensive players.

[AnfieldEd]

El tren you were talking about the conundrum of the robben-ribery-gomez-muller quadrant and the dilema it has on the team, so how will Shaqiri amend this? Surely either Robben or Ribery will leave in the summer with a huge profit for Bayern?

[DucdeOrléans]

Usami is sure to leave Bayern in summer, but he wants to stay in europe. Cant say much about him as he has hardly any significant minutes on the pitch.

I knew this but somehow I forgot having read his agents recent statements that clearly made it clear that he will probably leave this summer.

I can't say that I have seen much of him but this is only based on fellow FCB fans I happen to know. (One of them is family who lives in München)

But it is true that Reus was the first priority until he choose to move to Dortmund?

And good to see you around. Always appreciate your comments about the Bundesliga. Köln still unpredictable as always although I feared the most for you when Solbakken was presented. Poldi certainly doing his to keep you up this season.

[el tren]

El tren you were talking about the conundrum of the robben-ribery-gomez-muller quadrant and the dilema it has on the team, so how will Shaqiri amend this? Surely either Robben or Ribery will leave in the summer with a huge profit for Bayern?

Things is, that when they decided to buy Shaqiri, they werent fully aware of the 4-star-dilemma already. They just started benching one of them (RObben) in yesterdays cup semi. Before that they still tried to form a team with all 4.

So looking back now, the Shaqiri deal indeed doesnt seem to make the most sense. A strong defensive midfielder and/or left back could have prolly been more useful. Or a replacement playmaker for Kroos and Schweinsteiger! The latter being out again for weeks will surely harm them again as they dont have a smilar player as backup.

They could however try to use Shaqiri as offensive left back, Hitzfeld said that he used him there as Swiss NT coach. But i dont know the player too well ...

But its still next to impossible that Ribery leaves. Robben might think again about his almost done extension. There is also said to be some disharmony about him within the team, due to him criticizing others. BUt the Bayern management loves their superstars and is very forgiving with them (otherwise they would have kicked Ribery 1-2 years ago), so they usually dont sell them unless they dont have a choice. Its not like Bayern needs money anyway.

I knew this but somehow I forgot having read his agents recent statements that clearly made it clear that he will probably leave this summer.

I can't say that I have seen much of him but this is only based on fellow FCB fans I happen to know. (One of them is family who lives in München)

But it is true that Reus was the first priority until he choose to move to Dortmund?

And good to see you around. Always appreciate your comments about the Bundesliga. Köln still unpredictable as always although I feared the most for you when Solbakken was presented. Poldi certainly doing his to keep you up this season.

Bayern was surely after Reus, both parties confirmed it. But Bayern had rumored contacts with Shaqiri for a while - since they played Basel in 2010. And it makes much sense to prioritize on Reus imo.

And well ... we are winning our key matches like last week in Kaiserslautern. We are 9th now, which is amazing considering our squad ... basically Poldi, Novakovic, Geromel and the other 7 field players of 2nd division quality or 18-19 yrs old And Poldi is injured now even ... so it might get a bit critical now. But overall im very happy about Solbakken. He seems to have a plan and his counter tactics is the right thing for a quad like ours. Our previous coaches were pretty horrible you know

[Deco 20]

Being Kroos backup would be prestigious enough to make every other player in the world interested, but the pressure would be huge. He's the best midfielder in the world and the second best player right now.

But I agree about them having too many star attackers now, do you think this is an indication they'll sell someone in the summer?

[el tren]

Being Kroos backup would be prestigious enough to make every other player in the world interested, but the pressure would be huge. He's the best midfielder in the world and the second best player right now.

But I agree about them having too many star attackers now, do you think this is an indication they'll sell someone in the summer?

Like i said, i really dont see them selling someone as they love their starplayers. They also basically have no real bench to replace someone. Well, now they do with one of the 4 on the bench, but its still nothing very unusual. Bayern still has high objectives and they see other top teams stacking star players. Even we would have Pedro, Alexis, Thiago, Affellay (more often) on the bench if we hadnt so many or so repeating injuries. And it seems legit for Bayern to build a similarly deep squad.

[DucdeOrléans]

El Tren:

Indeed. Bayern is a very well run machine. I would actually say they are the best run football club in the world. Remove the (in my opinion) unfair and damaging TV deal that heavily favours FCB and RM and Bayern would probably have the biggest revenues of all football clubs. Especially the day Bayern will repay the loan for the Allianz Arena.

If they are able to find the right manager on the long run (not yet convinced of Heynckes despite a brilliant start) they could be a real force in the CL.

Also the Bundesliga is getting better and better for each season and already next season they could have maximum 4 clubs competing for the CL unlike Italy who will only have 3 at the maximum.

Reus is a great prospect as well. Not sure if he is as promising as Shaqiri though so Bayern probably made the right choice. But let us see it could be another Hummels

Poldi has been amazing this season from what I have seen. Yes, I really feared the worst for you at the start of the season after the dreadful start but Solbakken has stabilized you. Yes you have a really young and promising squad. Would be great to see a sleeping giant like Köln return to their former strength.

But what a attack Bayern could have next season. Ribéry, Robben, Gómez, Kroos, Shaqiri and Müller.

That's a phenomenal attack.

[ViscaBarca914]

Man I can't wait....I have high hopes for him at Bayern. I like his style a lot. Fits really well with them. I'm curious to see te amount of playing time he will get though.

[FCBarca]

Well, I hope el tren is wrong and Shaqiri isn't put back in defense again...He's best going forward and doesn't have the focus to be a defender any longer

[ivan22]

I have only seen him feature for Basel in the CL and a few games for the u-21 Swiss side. From what I have seen the dude tears it up and is a constant threat most of the time. Can anyone who has seen more of him give me some info? I would like to hear opinions on how much potential this kid has. Considering he has some pretty stiff competition at Bayern now. But he is only 20.

well I've pretty much seen every game he played for the last 2,5 years. what do you want to know?

oh and shaqiri mentioned in an interview last week that his dream is to play for the biggest FCB in europe

here is it:

Shaqiri über seine Träume als
Fussballer:
«Alle Spieler des
FC Bayern würden wohl am
liebsten ihr ganzes Leben lang
für Bayern München spielen.
Aber sollte ich dereinst einmal
von den Bayern weggehen,
dann möchte ich wieder zu
einem FCB. Mein Lieblingsklub
ist der FC Barcelona. Mal
schauen, was die Zukunft
bringt.

my translation:

Shaqiri about his dreams as a footballer:
"Probably most of the players at Bayern München would prefer to stay there for the rest of their career. But if I'm gonna leave someday, then I'd like to go to an FCB. My favourite club is FC Barcelona. Let's see what the future brings"

he also mentioned that he wants to retire at basel. what a legend he already is!

[FCBarca]

Allez la Suisse!

[FCBarca]