Bayern Munich legend Lothar Matthaus gives brutally honest thoughts on club's decision to sign Eric Dier

Lothar Matthaus has questioned Bayern Munich's January move for Eric Dier, as well as the club's overall transfer policy, in a no-nonsense interview.

The former Germany international, who made over 300 appearances for Bayern during two separate spells, is not a fan of Bayern's recruitment strategy in the January window.

Instead of putting their faith in youth, the Bavarian club have opted to bring in more experienced heads – a strategy that Matthaus has criticised.

Thomas Tuchel's side have recruited Eric Dier from Tottenham Hotspur this month on a season-long loan with the option to extend, while Kieran Trippier continues to be linked with a move.

Speaking on the Sky90 podcast, Matthaus questioned the addition of Dier before urging his former club to put their faith in youngsters.

He said: “Bayern need more depth and reinforcements, but are these players reinforcements? Eric Dier wasn’t necessarily a key player at Tottenham recently.

"I remember Uli Hoeness (Bayern’s honorary president) once saying that, ‘We won’t be bringing in any more players who are sitting on the bench at other clubs’. The latest transfer looks different.”

Matthaus added: “Kieran Trippier would be a similar case. That’s not Bayern Munich for me. Bayern should focus on reinforcements or on the young players.

"Aleksandar Pavlovic sat out against Bremen and wasn’t substituted. When he did play, he was always outstanding."

Image credit: Getty

The 62-year-old went on to criticise the club's failure to add reinforcements in key positions.

“Bayern Munich have very good youth players and Christoph Freund (Bayern’s sporting director) is responsible for that. He has a good network," Matthaus added.

“In the summer it was said, ‘We can let [Benjamin] Pavard and [Josip] Stanisic go and get someone else instead’, and then they didn’t get anyone else.

“As a result, they’ve got problems at right-back and in the centre. They thought, ‘We’ll manage that’. No, they reacted too late. The team can’t find itself.

“The difference to Leverkusen: Xabi Alonso had his team together from the start in the summer and was able to train what he wanted for six weeks.”

Topics: Bayern Munich, Bundesliga, Eric Dier, Kieran Trippier, Tottenham Hotspur

Jack Kenmare

Senior Journalist at SPORTbible with a passion for long-form journalism. Almost 10 years’ experience across online and print.

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