A familiar pattern has emerged at Bayern Munich in recent years: key players edge towards the end of their contracts, attract interest from top clubs abroad, are rightly viewed as men the club simply must keep, sign lucrative new deals under pressure, then suddenly stop performing at their usual level for one reason or another.
That happened with Leon Goretzka, Serge Gnabry, Kingsley Coman and, on a slightly lower level, Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting too. Not long after signing those extensions, their salaries no longer matched their sporting importance. Yet they still tied up financial resources and blocked squad planning at the same time. Bayern Munich wanted to sell, while the players quite rightly pointed to their contracts. So the club carried a number of burdens from the past until they eventually left on free transfers (Goretzka, Choupo-Moting), extended on reduced wages (Gnabry) or were sold for a comparatively low fee (Coman).
Now a similar development threatens with Alphonso Davies: after months of poker, accompanied by persistent interest from Real Madrid, he extended his deal in February 2025 on extremely lucrative terms until 2030. Reported basic salary: €15 million, with bonuses capable of pushing that figure significantly higher. Signing-on fee: €22 million.
Bayern Munich: Alphonso Davies has struggled since his cruciate ligament tear
Shortly after signing his extension, he tore his cruciate ligament, missed three quarters of a year, suffered several health setbacks after his comeback and still has not returned to his former level. At the end of last season, Davies suffered a muscle fibre bundle tear, which limited him to only 16 minutes for Canada at the long-awaited home World Cup before he returned to Bayern Munich carrying an injury.
While his team-mates toured Asia, Davies stayed in Munich working on his latest comeback with new signing Ismael Saibari and Jamal Musiala. He is expected to return to team training this week and be available again by the Super Cup against Borussia Dortmund on 22 August. Even then, though, he could still find himself on the bench.
For Davies, this is unfamiliar territory: for the first time since his breakthrough in the treble-winning 2019/20 season, he is no longer the undisputed first choice at left-back. In recent years, Bayern usually relied on flexible stand-ins on the left side of defence when Davies was absent, whether Lucas Hernandez, Raphael Guerreiro, Hiroki Ito, Konrad Laimer or Josip Stanisic.
This summer, though, Bayern Munich signed Nathaniel Brown for €50 million. He is expected to go into a completely open battle for the position with Davies and, as things stand, is even seen as the favourite. Brown was the bright spot last season in a weak Eintracht Frankfurt team and at the World Cup the bright spot in a weak Germany team.
IMAGOBrown recently even outdid Davies in his signature discipline
Unlike the injury-hit Davies, Brown found his rhythm on the Asia tour and impressed coach Vincent Kompany. Beyond his better fitness level, Brown is technically more accomplished and reads the game better than Davies, who in turn stands out more for his athleticism and pace. Players with a strengths profile like Davies' depend on their fitness even more than most. Health problems blunt those qualities badly, in the truest sense of the word, and that is exactly what has happened with Davies recently.
One statistic brings that into sharp focus: in his first six seasons at Bayern Munich, Davies was always among the fastest players in the Bundesliga. His top speed each year ranged from 35.97 km/h to the absolute peak of 36.53 km/h in the 2022/23 season. Since his comeback, however, he has managed a maximum of only 35.11 km/h. That is enough for only 39th place in the league last season. In 11th place, by contrast, with 35.78 km/h: Nathaniel Brown.
More than that, the new signing not only has a broader strengths profile than Davies, he also recently beat him in his signature discipline. Possibly to slip that fact into the wider public domain almost in passing, Brown named "pace" as one of his biggest strengths alongside "feeling for spaces" at his official unveiling.
Season | Alphonso Davies top speed |
|---|---|
2019/20 | 36.51 km/h |
2020/21 | 35.97 km/h |
2021/22 | 36.08 km/h |
2022/23 | 36.53 km/h |
2023/24 | 36.1 km/h |
2024/25 | 36.24 km/h |
2025/26 | 35.11 km/h |
Sale of Alphonso Davies this summer "ruled out"
In theory, Davies could still get opportunities in another position this season, namely on the left wing, where he regularly played in the past for the Canada national team. Luis Diaz is undisputed there. But if he needs a rest or is unavailable, options quickly start to look thin.
The nominal alternative is academy product Arijon Ibrahimovic, who is inexperienced at the highest level. Central players such as Musiala, Gnabry or Saibari can also fill in. Against Jeju SK FC, Kompany tested Bara Ndiaye on the left of the attack, while 17-year-old Maycon Cardozo also made a good impression in pre-season. It is conceivable that Kompany could also experiment there with Davies.
Even so, Bayern Munich still believe, or rather hope, that Davies will return to his former level. A sale in this transfer window is therefore "ruled out", as sporting director Max Eberl stressed, of all places, at Brown's unveiling. Softer factors also work in Davies' favour. With his positive manner, he is considered a dressing-room mood-maker. By virtue of his nationality, he matters for reach on the North American market, much like Min-Jae Kim does on the Asian market. Ultimately, though, performances on the pitch are what count.
At 25, Davies is at a crossroads. If he loses the battle with Brown and endures another disappointing season, he could quickly end up in a situation similar to the one once faced by Gnabry, Goretzka, Coman or Choupo-Moting. Internally, he would be seen as too expensive for his sporting importance and would therefore automatically become a sale candidate. In that case, however, Davies could calmly point to his lucrative contract, which still runs until 2030.