Bayern Munich agree personal terms with €30m defender
Bayern are also keen to sign another centre-back this summer.
Hiroki Ito will become a Bayern Munich player very soon after the club reached an agreement with the Japan international over personal terms.
Bayern will pay a €30 million transfer fee to fellow Bundesliga club Stuttgart.
Ito, 25, will sign a five-year contract with Bayern, who finished one point and one place behind Stuttgart in the most recent edition of the Bundesliga.
Bayern conceded 45 league goals last season - their worst defensive effort since the 1995/96 campaign.
Defenders are therefore high on Bayern’s wanted list this summer.
As reported by Fabrizio Romano via X.com, Bayern remain keen to recruit Germany centre-back Jonathan Tah from Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen, despite agreeing a deal for Ito.
Romano tweeted on Wednesday evening: “Hiroki Ito to Bayern, here we go! Agreement in place with the player on five year contract, next step medical tests.
“Bayern trigger €30m release clause from Stuttgart for 25 year old Japanese defender.
“Bayern also remain in talks for Jonathan Tah.”
Romano went into more detail about Bayern’s interest in Tah in his exclusive column earlier on Wednesday.
In the column, Romano also discussed the possibility that Bayern could part ways with Matthijs de Ligt and Joshua Kimmich this summer.
On Tah, Romano wrote: “As previously reported, the Bayer Leverkusen defender sees Bayern as his favourite option if he is to leave Leverkusen. So now let’s see what Tah will decide to do, but my understanding is that he’s already in advanced talks on contract terms with Bayern.
“So, Bayern are working on signing Tah, though we’ve also had rumours about interest in Chelsea’s Levi Colwill. It’s important to clarify that for Chelsea’s owners, directors and staff, Colwill is a really crucial player. He is expected to stay at the club in the summer transfer window, he won’t leave unless something crazy happens, or if the player asks to go. Colwill remains a really crucial part of the Chelsea project - this is why they offered him a new deal last year, and why they are not considering discussing his exit.
“Another Bayern story we’re seeing is about Matthijs de Ligt and other big names who could reportedly leave for the right price this summer, but I think this is something for later in the window as De Ligt, for example, is now fully focused on the Euros. As I’ve said before, though, Joshua Kimmich is someone who can leave in case of a good proposal.”
