Replacement for Luis Diaz: Bayern Munich face fresh negotiations with ‘Piranha’ Zahavi | Goal.com

Veröffentlicht am 15 Oct 2026 | Lesezeit: 2 Minuten

Zahavi recently began representing highly rated prospect Maycon Cardozo, who was seen as a potential backup for Luis Diaz in the summer. Then a serious shoulder injury sidelined the 17-year-old.

In early September, Cardozo broke his shoulder while playing for the reserves in a Regionalliga match against Illertissen. He has been working towards his comeback ever since. According to Sky, talks with Zahavi over a professional contract are also expected to take place soon.

Cardozo is the son of former Brazilian professional footballer Douglas. His family moved to Thailand when he was two, and he learned to play football there. He arrived in Munich through Bayern Munich's so-called World Squad in early 2025, initially playing for the U17s and U19s.

During the second half of last season, Kompany regularly brought Cardozo into first-team training and gave him two Bundesliga appearances. Cardozo joined Bayern Munich's squad for their summer trip to Asia and was in the squad for the Supercup against Borussia Dortmund. This season, though, his only competitive appearances have come for coach Dante's reserves in the fourth tier.

FCB

Bundesliga

17 Oct 2026

RBL

Despite his limited first-team experience, Cardozo could receive a great honour in the future. Paulo Victor Gomes, who coaches both Brazil's U20 and U23 national teams, recently visited Bayern Munich's training ground.

On Instagram, Gomez posted a photo of himself with head coach Vincent Kompany, for whom he had brought a Brazil national team shirt bearing Kompany's name, and reserves coach Dante. Gomes wrote: "Today marks the start of an important series of international visits at Bayern Munich, during which we will follow our Brazilian players in Europe closely and strengthen our relationships with the clubs. A day full of shared experiences and good conversations about football and player development."

At present, only one player is a candidate for Brazil's U20s or U23s: Maycon Cardozo.

A possible winter loan for Cardozo is also expected to come up in talks between Bayern Munich and Zahavi, whom honorary president Uli Hoeneß called a "money-grubbing piranha" because of his role in the failed negotiations with David Alaba.

Several clubs reportedly showed interest in Cardozo during the summer. At the time, however, Bayern Munich reportedly hoped the right-footed Brazilian would make a quick breakthrough and planned to use him as Diaz's backup.

Relations between Bayern Munich and Zahavi have since calmed after the high-profile departures of Alaba and Robert Lewandowski, and are now characterised by professional respect. His agency, Gol International, also played a role in Jonathan Tah's free transfer to the record champions.

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