Fabrizio Romano has claimed that Bayern Munich star Benjamin Pavard is expected to leave the club at the end of the season.
The Frenchman, who joined the club a year after winning the World Cup in 2018, has made 140 appearances for the German champions, but despite still being a regular starter he looks set to depart.
Romano has claimed that the fullback is expected to leave, with fellow France international Lucas Hernandez set to sign a new deal and remain at the Allianz Arena.
“Feeling is for Benjamin Pavard to leave in the summer, so Hernandez could stay and extend,” Romano tweeted.
Both defenders started for France in their World Cup opener against Australia, but Hernandez was withdrawn early on and is expected to miss the rest of the season with a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament injury.
TIF thoughts on Pavard…
It is a surprise that Julian Nagelsmann is seemingly happy to let Pavard go, given that he has played 75% of his side’s minutes this season, but as he enters the final year of his contract it could be the perfect time to cash in.
The 26-year-old will undoubtedly attract interest from big clubs across Europe, and the club could even recuperate most of the £31.4m spent to bring him to the club from Stuttgart in 2019.
With Noussair Mazraoui arriving in the summer from Ajax, the right-back position may end up his ahead of Pavard, and the Frenchman may use the World Cup as a platform to earn himself a move again, to a club where he could be a first-choice pick.
Pavard was reportedly angry when he was selected on the bench in recent weeks, and this may have prompted him to seek out a new challenge once the current season ends.
Given the quality and versatility of the defender, who can also play as a centre-back, finding a move as he heads into his prime years after another World Cup campaign may be the best solution for the player.