‘We need four more players’ – Bayern coach Kovac

Bayern Munich coach Niko Kovac has demanded that the club sign four new players as they rejuvenate their squad ahead of next season, Kicker magazine reported Thursday.

The 28-time Bundesliga winners are undergoing a major squad overhaul, and several senior players have left this year.

Veterans Arjen Robben, Franck Ribery and Rafinha went at the end of last season, and defender Mats Hummels is set to make a 38 million euro return to Borussia Dortmund.

Real Madrid loanee James Rodriguez will also quit Munich after the club decided not to sign the Colombian on a permanent deal.

The departures have left Bayern with a squad of just 17 players.

“We can’t do much with 17 players. We need 19 really,” Kovac told Kicker.

With defender Jerome Boateng and midfielder Renato Sanches also expected to leave ahead of next season, Bayern needs to sign several players if they are to reach that mark.

“We need four more players,” said Kovac.

Bayern signed one French defender Benjamin Pavard for 35 million euros earlier this year and broke their transfer record with an 80 million euro swoop for another, Lucas Hernandez.

The two World Cup-winning defenders will fill the gap left by Hummels, but Bayern remains on the hunt for successors to Robben and Ribery on the wings.

Moves for Manchester City’s Leroy Sane and Chelsea’s Callum Hudson-Odoi have stalled, while Bayern’s interest in RB Leipzig striker Timo Werner appears to have cooled.

A report in Bild newspaper this week linked Bayern to Barcelona’s Ousmane Dembele, but questions remain over whether they could afford the 22-year-old Frenchman.

Club president Uli Hoeness said last month that Bayern would not break the 100 million euro mark for a single player this year.

On Thursday, Hoeness insisted that Bayern were in no rush to complete their squad overhaul.

“We just need to be done by the end of July,” he told Kicker.