Bayern Munich won’t rush talks with out-of-contract stars – Salihamidzic

The German giants face the prospect of losing a number of key players soon if they don’t lock them down

Hasan Salihamidzic insisted Bayern Munich were in no rush to enter contract talks with their stars, preferring to focus on challenging on several fronts.

Bayern moved into the DFB-Pokal quarter-finals by overcoming Hoffenheim 4-3 on Wednesday.

They are top of the Bundesliga and into the last 16 of the Champions League, and that is the focus for the German giants despite the likes of Manuel Neuer, Thomas Muller, Javi Martinez, David Alaba and Thiago Alcantara coming to the end of their deals in June 2021.

“We will certainly have talks, but in the next few weeks we will concentrate on the competitions,” Bayern sporting director Salihamidzic told reporters.

“It’s important that we are totally focused on the games in the upcoming weeks. That’s where the focus lies.”

Asked if he was worried about other clubs potentially looking at the stars coming out of contract, Salihamidzic said: “No. Sure, this can happen with top players, but we have had good experience with concentrating on the competitions first and that’s what we will do.

“But like I said before, we will have talks, the players know about it and there are no problems.”

Bayern are back in action with a top-of-the-table Bundesliga clash at home to RB Leipzig on Sunday.

After seeing his side scrape past Hoffenheim on Wednesday, manager Hansi Flick conceded their overall performance left plenty to be desired. 

“In the cup it’s ultimately about going through,” Flick said. 

“I was very pleased with the first half. We went a goal down early but bounced back quickly and hardly let our opponents play.

“The way we played in the second half wasn’t so good, you saw from the 55th minute the team eased off a bit. We lacked the intensity we need in our play. We didn’t press well any longer.

“Hoffenheim made better use of their qualities, whereas we allowed them too many chances. A compliment to Hoffenheim, they did a really good job.

“Taken altogether we’ve achieved our goal. We’ll work on and talk about everything else.”

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