Once Harry Kane has signed: an entirely unfamiliar situation awaits Max Eberl at Bayern Munich

Max Eberl has been Bayern Munich's board member for sport since March 2024. Across his first two full seasons, the same problem kept returning: key players with considerable market values could leave for nothing the following summer. Eberl had to find a way to keep them. Negotiations dragged on, other clubs' interest became leverage, demands kept changing and updates on talks came thick and fast.

In the end, Eberl and the sporting management secured the most important deals, but at enormous financial expense. Alphonso Davies extended his expiring contract in February 2025, and Jamal Musiala signed a new deal that month. Joshua Kimmich followed in March. The planned extension with Leroy Sane fell through, though, and he joined Galatasaray in Istanbul on a free transfer. Nobody in Munich has regretted that, of course. Eberl then completed a deal with Dayot Upamecano in February 2026.

Only Harry Kane's extension remains pressing now, with his contract due to expire next summer. According to multiple reports, the negotiations reached a breakthrough last week. President Herbert Hainer said only "details" remained to be settled, including how to handle image and personality rights, before the 33-year-old goalscorer extends his contract until 2029. The question is no longer whether Kane will extend. It is when.

Manuel Neuer and Sven Ulreich likely to call it a day in 2027

Once Kane signs, only two first-team contracts will expire next summer: those of Manuel Neuer (40) and Sven Ulreich (38). The two veteran goalkeepers will most likely end their careers then. Bayern have earmarked Jonas Urbig as their future number one, and there is now even debate about bringing forward the change of guard.

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With Kane's deal done, Eberl and the sporting management will have no short-term pressure over extensions. A look ahead to summer 2028 suggests they won't face much medium-term pressure either. Sacha Boey and Hiroki Ito, whom Eberl would ideally have moved on long before then, will be free to leave without a transfer fee. So will Min-Jae Kim, who has also at times been mentioned as a candidate for sale, and Serge Gnabry. Gnabry is already more of a rotation player and, at almost 33 by then, will in all likelihood no longer be of the greatest sporting importance.

Once Kane extends, every key player with a long-term future will be under contract until at least 2029. Eberl will find himself in a position he hasn't known over the previous two seasons: comfortable. He will have wrapped up every time-sensitive internal contract negotiation well before the turn of the year.

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After Harry Kane: When will Michael Olise extend his Bayern Munich contract?

The next task is to agree extensions well in advance and avoid another precarious situation in the 2028/29 season. As things stand, the contracts of numerous important players expire in 2029: Jonas Urbig, Jonathan Tah, Konrad Laimer, Josip Stanisic, Joshua Kimmich, Aleksandar Pavlovic, Tom Bischof, Luis Diaz, Michael Olise, Lennart Karl (and probably Kane).

Olise's extension tops Eberl's agenda. Since joining Bayern Munich in 2024, the 24-year-old Frenchman has developed into one of the world's best players, and top international clubs, above all Real Madrid, continue to be linked with him. "We would like to extend Michael's contract beyond 2029. That is our wish, but there is a third party involved," Eberl said on the sidelines of Saturday's 2-2 draw against FC Augsburg. "To be honest, there have not been any talks at all yet." 

Bayern Munich needn't rush, especially as Olise currently has no release clause and earns a reported €16 million, a relatively moderate salary for a player of his quality. An extension would inevitably put him in the same pay bracket as current top earners Kane and Musiala, who each earn around €25 million.

Bayern Munich: When do the first-team players' contracts expire?