February 13, 2022, Madrid, Palacio de los Duques Gran Meliá Hotel:
Sports Director Hasan Salihamidzic and Technical Director Marco Neppe flew to Madrid to meet with Iván de la Peña, a former Spanish international. Salihamidzic and de la Peña had known each other since their playing days, and de la Peña now works as a player agent.
Bayern Munich requested the meeting because they were interested in one of his clients. The player in question is Pablo Martín Páez Gavira, more commonly known in football circles by his nickname "Gavi".
This midfielder was regarded as a super talent at Barcelona and had been given permission to join the first-team pre-season training under head coach Ronald Koeman. He would make his first-team debut on August 29, 2021, at the age of just 17 years and 24 days.
The delegation traveled to Madrid to gather information about the young player and explore the possibility of persuading Gavi to leave Barcelona.
However, Salihamidzic and Neppe had an additional secret plan, which they intended to reveal only during this meeting. The club’s scouting department had shown Bayern’s hierarchy video clips of another of de la Peña’s clients—a player who had already started receiving professional training at the age of 14.
The attacking moves, skills, and on-pitch performances displayed by the young Yamine Yamal in the videos left Bayern astonished; they had never seen such a gifted player at such a tender age!
Bayern had another angle to their approach: the club’s management was also working to sign one of Yamal’s teammates, left-back Adam Aznou, who was then playing for Barcelona’s U16 youth team. Salihamidzic and Neppe hoped to secure Aznou’s signature too.
That deal proved successful. On July 28, 2022, Aznou would join Bayern Munich on a free transfer.
Returning to Yamal: at the time, Bayern’s sports directors were clear—according to the club’s statutes, a transfer would be impossible until the following summer, when Yamal celebrated his 16th birthday on July 13, 2023.
Therefore, they traveled to Spain early to lay the groundwork for a potential transfer. This is why de la Peña was caught off guard when Bayern suddenly shifted the conversation from Gavi to Yamal during dinner.
Salihamidzic and Neppe were upfront: they were eager to sign the player for Bayern, and ideally wanted to meet with his parents immediately. The agent assured them that he would pass on their interest to Yamal’s family.
He also promised to inform Yamal that Bayern had shown concrete interest—and expressed the club’s desire to meet with him as soon as possible. Salihamidzic and Neppe returned to Munich in high spirits, knowing they had gained an edge before other figures in football became aware of Yamal. However, events took an unexpected turn.
Before the end of the year, de la Peña called his friend Salihamidzic. The Spaniard wanted to break the news that their plan to sign Yamal had collapsed, as Cristiano Ronaldo’s agent Jorge Mendes had poached the client.
For de la Peña, this was a major business setback; for Bayern, it was devastating news.
The agent announced that Yamal would no longer be using his advisory services. Bayern was shocked by this blow. Soon after, Mendes received a call in Portugal—this time from Bayern’s sports director.
Salihamidzic asked a direct question: what would Bayern need to do to bring Yamal to Munich in the summer of 2023? Mendes paused before replying, “It would cost several million euros.”
The sports director responded that he first needed to confirm with the supervisory board whether the deal was truly necessary to sign the young player—and he needed a more specific figure. Mendes answered, “I might be able to convince the family with 5 million euros.”
Bayern held internal discussions about Yamal, while also weighing the risks of investing 5 million euros in a young, relatively unknown talent. The matter was then put on hold, especially since the earliest possible time to complete the transfer was July 2023.
But Yamal’s talent could no longer be concealed. The Spanish teenager rose to prominence rapidly, and eventually, Bayern scrapped the plan to invest 5 million euros.
On April 29, 2023—six weeks before his 16th birthday, at the age of 15 years, 9 months, and 16 days—Yamal made his professional debut as the youngest player in the club’s history, coming on as a substitute in a 4-0 victory over Real Betis.
By the end of the season, he had also become the youngest champion in La Liga history—even though he was still under 16 at the time. But Yamal was now certain: he would forge his success at FC Barcelona, and a transfer was no longer an option for him.
In October 2023, he signed a three-year contract (running until 2026). One clause in the contract states that Yamal can only leave the club if a release fee of 1 billion euros is paid.
