Who Is New Bayern Munich Goalkeeper Daniel Peretz?

Bayern Munich finally has found a solution to strengthen the club’s goalkeeper position. After lengthy negotiations with Maccabi Tel Aviv, Bayern has found an agreement to sign 23-year-old Israeli goalkeeper Daniel Peretz. According to Fabrizio Romano, Bayern Munich will pay an initial €5 million ($5.5 million) plus €2 million in add-ons ($2.2 million) for the Israeli, who also has a German passport.

The initial transfer fee is just above his €4 million ($4.4 million) Transfermarkt market value. Once add-ons are included, Peretz could become the second most expensive departure in Maccabi’s history. In fact, Peretz would be just ahead of another goalkeeper: Pedrag Rajkovic.

For Bayern Munich, the transfer, once complete, will end a several-month-long search for a new goalkeeper. In fact, Bayern already had secured a new goalkeeper when they reached an agreement with Chelsea to sign Kepa Arrizabalaga on loan. But then Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois tore his ACL, and Kepa opted to join the Spaniards instead.

With Kepa off the table, Bayern was either left with signing another expensive goalkeeper who could be seen as a potential no.1 or hope that Manuel Neuer would fully recover from his broken leg. Neuer has increased his training load in recent days, and there is a sense of optimism within the Bayern organization that the 37-year-old could make a full recovery and return to competitive fixtures as early as September.

Whether Neuer will be fully match-fit and regain his pre-injury form remains to be seen. But for now, Bayern has opted not to sign a potential competitor and instead went with an outside-the-box signing in Daniel Peretz.