Featured Image Credit: Getty
Topics: Loris Karius, Liverpool, Bayern Munich, Bundesliga, Champions League, Transfer News
Luke Davies
Topics: Loris Karius, Liverpool, Bayern Munich, Bundesliga, Champions League, Transfer News
Loris Karius could be set to join an elite European club – and it may not be who you’d expect.
Karius, 31, has been without a club since leaving Newcastle after his contract expired at the end of the 2023/24 season.
In his early days at Mainz, he showed promise and was even their youngest-ever goalkeeper to play in a Bundesliga game.
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His impressive performances attracted the interest of Liverpool, who signed the German in 2016 for £4.75m on a five-year deal and was given the number one shirt at Anfield.
Unfortunately, his time at Liverpool will forever be overshadowed by two huge errors in the 2018 Champions League final against Real Madrid in Kyiv, Ukraine.
A loan spell at Besiktas between 2018 and 2020 followed before a brief stint at Union Berlin.
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He then joined Newcastle in 2022 but played just once – in the 2023 Carabao Cup final loss against Manchester United.
According to reports from BILD, Bayern Munich are ‘considering’ a move for the player.
Manuel Neuer (broken rib) and second-choice ‘keeper Sven Ulreich (personal reasons) are currently unavailable. As a result, Bayern could be in the market for a backup goalkeeper.
Daniel Peretz has been trusted with filling in for now, but a more experienced head may be required.
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Speaking on Monday, Bayern boss Vincent Kompany revealed that he hopes to have Neuer back by January.
But the Bavarians cannot afford to wait until January; they need a short-term fix even if Karius does indeed play second fiddle to Peretz.
Kompany’s side currently sit top of the Bundesliga but sit 13th in 36-team Champions League group phase before tonight’s match against Shakhtar Donetsk.
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Karius opened up about his future ambitions when speaking to SPORTbible in November.
“I was hoping to get a good opportunity in the summer, where I could have a shot at playing again," he said.
"I chose not to go to Saudi Arabia, for example. To be that far away from my family would have been difficult.
"I've spoken to teams, but in the end, it didn't work out. There were advanced talks with a team in Italy, but that didn't happen, which was sad at the time.”
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The 31-year-old continued, revealing that he even considered retirement but insisted he hadn’t decided on his future as of yet.
Of course, playing for Germany’s most successful club and six-time European champions, Bayern, would be appealing to most players, even if it is in a sporting role.