Bayern’s Vidal sale a calculated risk

It feels like Arturo Vidal has been patrolling the middle of the park for Bayern Munich for much longer than three years.

The mohawked-midfielder’s bursting runs, driven personality and tightrope-walking approach to tackling have made him a fan favorite and a key cog in the title-winning machines created by Pep Guardiola, Carlo Ancelotti and Jupp Heynckes.

"He always turned up in important games and we could always rely on him," said Bayern's chief executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge when Vidal’s move to Barcelona was confirmed on Friday.

On the face of it, those words beg the question as to why Bayern are selling one of their key men to a side who are rivals for the trophy that seems to occupy the club’s thoughts the most.

Different breed

For the majority of his time at the club, Vidal has been a vital presence. He added energy, power and well-timed late runs to the prompting of Thiago, the muscle and nous of Javi Martinez, the low-key recycling job performed by Sebastian Rudy or the sublime vision of James Rodriguez. The Chilean’s skillset complemented his teammates perfectly. He offered something none of the others could.

But the arrival of Leon Goretzka and the return of Renato Sanches means Vidal’s style is not as different to his positional rivals as it once was. Sanches, at least when he shot to prominence two years ago, is similar in style to the man more than a decade his senior.

The Portuguese midfielder has struggled since excelling at Euro 2016 but Rummenigge expects his new coach to get the most out of a player signed for €35 million ($40 million) two years ago. "Niko Kovac will try to bring him back to his former glory. This is an exciting task," he said.

Goretzka can also expect a prominent role under Kovac. The 23-year-old showed the talent, if not always the consistency, that has made him so highly sought-after for so long as Schalke claimed second place last term. While he doesn’t quite have the all-action style of Vidal, Goretzka is also fond of breaking from deep and is a better defensive player than he’s sometimes given credit for.

With 11 and eight years on Sanches and Goretzka respectively and, presumably, a higher wage to boot, once an acceptable offer for Vidal came in, selling him made sense.

Issues elsewhere

While Bayern’s central midfield options remain plentiful, that isn’t the case across the whole squad and there is the suggestion that the transfer fee and wages saved through Vidal’s exit could get other deals over the line.

The Bundesliga holders have yet to spend a single Euro on a first time player since the end of last season, leaving some fans a touch nervous. While the first XI still looks strong, there are issues of depth in certain positions.

Errors by the otherwise impressive Sven Ulreich and Rafinha in the Champions League semifinal loss to Real Madrid prove the importance of capable deputies to a team expected to challenge on all fronts.

Rafinha looks an inadequate replacement for Joshua Kimmich, Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery are another season closer to retirement and with constant speculation over the futures of Robert Lewandowski and Jerome Boateng, several areas could require strengthening.

Kovac proved at Eintracht Frankfurt that he could bring success without too much money but despite Rumminigge’s claims in May that “we will go into the new season with this squad and will see what Niko Kovac makes of it", the new man may well want to bring in at least one or two of his own players before the transfer window shuts.

It’s unlikely that they’ll be central midfielders. And while Vidal will be missed, his sale makes plenty of sense.