Bayern Munich have joined fellow European heavyweights Real Madrid in the race to sign a Premier League star, as transfer chiefs Max Eberl and Christoph Freund continue work on Vincent Kompany's squad behind-the-scenes.

Kompany records winning Bayern start after summer spree

It has been a brilliant start to life for Kompany at the Allianz Arena, following the Belgian's switch to Bayern's dugout from Burnley over the summer.

The German giants, aiming to wrestle the Bundesliga title back off Bayer Leverkusen, started this 2024/2025 season with a thrilling 3-2 win away at Wolfsburg – with Jamal Musiala, an own goal from Jakub Kaminski and Serge Gnabry's late strike rounding off a crucial win at the Volskwagen Arena.

"I enjoyed it, it was my first Bundesliga game as a coach," said Kompany on Bayern's comeback win at Wolfsburg.

"The first half was dominant, as it should be. We didn't concede any chances. The second half wasn't good at the beginning, we conceded two quick goals. The third point is that our mentality was right at the end, and that's why we won the game.

Holsten Kiel vs Bayern Munich

September 14

Werder Bremen vs Bayern Munich

September 21

Bayern Munich vs Bayer Leverkusen

September 28

Eintracht Frankfurt vs Bayern Munich

October 6

Bayern Munich vs Stuttgart

October 19

"Mistakes happen, the important thing is how the team reacts. That took a while in the second half. Thomas Mueller and Kingsley Coman came in with the right mentality and the tempo came back. At the end of the second half, we had a lot of courage to win the game. It wasn't perfect, but we'll keep going."

Bayern then downed SC Freiburg 2-0 in Kompany's first ever home league game as manager, courtesy of Harry Kane's first-half penalty and Thomas Muller's late goal, with an all-important opening Champions League match against Dinamo Zagreb awaiting the Bavarians next week after their clash against Holsten Kiel this weekend.

Kompany's promising start comes after Bayern spent nearly £120 million to back him over the summer window, sealing multi-million pound deals for Michael Olise, Joao Palhinha, Hiroki Ito, Bryan Zaragoza, Armindo Zieb and Eric Dier on a free transfer.

Bayern also attempted to add Chido Obi-Martin to Kompany's ranks over the summer, but they were ultimately beaten to the ex-Arsenal wonderkid by Manchester United.

Bayern join Real Madrid in race for Arsenal star William Saliba

Now, according to CaughtOffside, Eberl and Freund have turned their attention towards north London once again – as they eye a move for Arsenal's superstar defender William Saliba.

The France defender has been nothing short of imperative since coming into Mikel Arteta's first team at the beginning of 2022/2023, and Real Madrid have been monitoring Saliba for a while now.

However, it is believed Bayern have now joined Real and PSG in the race for Saliba, as they European big-wigs consider adding an illustrious Premier League defender to their ranks.

It won't be an easy deal to pull off, though, as CS believe Saliba will command a £120 million-plus price tag to prise away from the Emirates Stadium. The 23-year-old is also thought to be on around £190,000-per-week, so the total cost of a move could be very expensive.

“Saliba has been absolutely outstanding, a giant on the pitch," said Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville towards the end of last season. “A special mention to Gabriel as well, who wasn’t far behind in his performance. But this has answered the question of how much Saliba was missed last season.”