Hiroki Ito Told to Seek New Club After Two Bayern Seasons
hiroki ito has been told to look for a new club this summer after Bayern Munich made it clear he no longer figures prominently in their plans. The move comes after two years in which the defender managed only 31 competitive matches, leaving Bayern to reshape their options at the back.
Bayern Munich and Hiroki Ito
Bayern officials advised Ito’s agents to actively seek a new club for him, with Spain’s LaLiga described as a particularly attractive option. No specific destinations were named, but the message from Munich was direct: he is not central to the squad plan going forward.
The timing is sharp. Bayern paid 24 million euros for him in summer 2024, and they had already spent 20 million euros on VfB Stuttgart when they activated his release clause two years ago. That fee history makes the turnaround clear, because the club has now moved from investment to exit planning in a short span.
Injuries and Bayern plans
His case has been shaped by injuries as much as selection. Ito fractured a metatarsal in a pre-season friendly in his debut campaign, returned in mid-February, and then suffered a second metatarsal break in his eighth competitive outing. He was sidelined until late autumn after that setback.
Another blow followed in February, when he suffered a torn muscle fibre. Across two years, those setbacks left him with just 31 competitive matches, and Bayern used Jonathan Tah and Dayot Upamecano as the established central-defence pairing in high-stakes domestic and European fixtures.
Brown, Bisseck and Kim
Bayern’s wider summer plans point in the same direction. Josip Stanisic or Konrad Laimer were used at left-back in big games instead of Ito, while the club are closing in on Nathaniel Brown from Eintracht Frankfurt and tracking Inter Milan’s Yann Bisseck in central defence.
Brown is reportedly valued by Frankfurt at 60 to 65 million euros, while Inter are open to offers for Bisseck starting at 40 million euros. Kim is also set to depart Bayern this summer, and Juventus have already agreed personal terms with him, although they are reluctant to meet Bayern’s 40 million euro valuation. Munich are not waiting for the market to settle; they are moving their defensive rebuild around players who have stayed available.
