Bayern Munich could wind up selling Raphaël Guerreiro this winter

Raphaël Guerreiro played a massive role in Bayern Munich’s 3-1, come-from-behind win over St. Pauli at the Allianz Arena this past weekend, having scored the first of Bayern’s three goals. Vincent Kompany made a small handful of changes to his starting eleven for that match from the starters that played in the 3-1 loss to Arsenal in the Champions League, Guerreiro having been one of said changes.

The Portuguese left back/winger has made a total of 13 appearances across all competitions so far this season, only 5 of which have been starts. In the Bundesliga, the win over St. Pauli was only his second start in the league, as his other starts came in the Champions League vs Pafos FC and Club Brugge and the first round DFB-Pokal win over Wehen Wiesbaden. Even without Alphonso Davies and Hiroki Ito in the squad, though the latter did just mark his return, it’s clear that Guerreiro is not Kompany’s first choice at left back. The Belgian has been showing a preference to playing Tom Bischof there.

Unsurprisingly, Guerreiro has been linked with a potential move away from Bayern as early as this winter. Portuguese outlet A BOLA (via @iMiaSanMia) are reporting that SL Benfica are heavily interested in trying to sign Guerreiro during the January transfer window, as manager José Mourinho is very fond of his experience at a high level in the Bundesliga, Champions League, and the Portuguese national team.

Guerreiro himself has previously admitted that he is a big Benfica fan and going there would more than likely mean more regular minutes and starts for him, especially since Ito is now back for Bayern and Davies is edging closer to his return as well. Once the Canadian international is back, Guerreiro would be competing for minutes with Davies, Bischof, Ito, and even Josip Stanišić, who has also been used at left back before.

At Bayern, even though Guerreiro is rarely a starter for Kompany, he is still very much appreciated by the manager and the club and has proven to be a viable option when he’s been called upon. That might not be enough to make him not want to leave Bayern either this winter or summer, though. His current contract with Bayern runs through June 2026, so he could also leave the club as a free agent if Bayern decides against offering him any sort of extension.