Around a week ago claims started of Manchester City having an interest in Holger Badstuber. The Bayern Munich defender is keen to get minutes on the pitch after prolonged injury issues, but Carlo Ancelotti doesn’t see him as first choice.
The player’s injury absences have left him even more eager for match time and he’s willing to move to get it. Badstuber’s injury issues make Vincent Kompany look like an unbreakable ironman.
Since the 2011/2012 season, the 27 year old hasn’t once hit 1000 Bundesliga minutes in a season. Over the past four seasons, including the current one, Badstuber has managed a total of 1267 Bundesliga minutes. In comparison, Kompany has managed 5693 Premier League minutes in that time.
Badstuber’s fitness nightmare started in December 2012 when a cruciate ligament injury left him out of action for way over a year. Since then he’s had three further lengthy lay-offs with muscle injuries and then an ankle problem.
At the start of this season more muscle problems left the player out for two months, his latest return to fitness coming in October. Since then he’s had two short substitute appearances and then played 90 minutes against FC Rostov in the Champions League.
Given the past injury issues, and that Badstuber hasn’t really had chance to prove his form or fitness with his latest comeback, Manchester City interest would be a huge gamble. With Kompany also suffering injury problems, and another, albeit lesser, injury gamble Ilkay Gundogan out for the rest of the season, it may be considered Pep Guardiola would focus on safer bets.
Still, some gambles pay off, and looking towards the positives of a possible deal, Guardiola has worked with Badstuber before, although much of that period was wiped with fitness issues. The German defender would already know Guardiola’s methods completely and there’d be little settling-in time in that respect.
Another positive is that Badstuber is very much available. On January 4th, the player’s agent Prof. Dr. Peter Duvinage told Bild he’d had “very good talks” with Bayern Munich over an exit for the defender. Manchester City were mentioned by Bild as a possible destination.
SportBild have also reported Manchester City interest, as have others in Germany, but it may well be connected to the English reports which came first. Kicker on Friday said Badstuber was on the verge of a move to England, but they didn’t mention Manchester City, or anyone else.
The Sun reported Manchester City interest in Badstuber on December 31st, and then, on January 1st, ESPN did, not crediting The Sun but saying from their own sources. That’s where it’s all since panned out from.
In October, Badstuber told Germany’s Sky that he preferred the openness of Carlo Ancelotti compared to what he’d experienced under Guardiola. Straight talking, Badstuber said: “Our current coach likes to exchange opinions with the players, and so the conversations go back and forth. That’s good.
“With Pep it was different. I’d have to approach him because if I want a discussion then I’ll go looking for it.”
Guardiola himself sounded more positive about Badstuber, at least when Bayern manager. In February, reacting to another injury, Guardiola said, whilst wearing a t-shirt supporting the stricken player: “What happened to Holger is a nightmare, it’s not normal. He had five operations, we love him a lot, he’s a great guy, a great player.”
Badstuber’s current contract expires in June, and there have been suggestions the player could earn himself a Bayern extension by impressing elsewhere on loan, or could be given an extension before leaving for the rest of the season.
But if a huge club like Manchester City were to provide the defender with the guarantees he apparently wants over playing time, and provide him an opportunity, then they’d surely want the chance of a longer term benefit from the gamble.
It’s a transfer that would make sense on less levels than it wouldn’t make sense. The only real way to believe this, regardless of the claims, is from an availability viewpoint. If Guardiola is that desperate for a new defender at Manchester City that he’s ready to take a player who has hardly played in the past four seasons, and assure him of game time, then Badstuber is his man.
