Kaoru Mitoma, Rafael Leão being linked to FC Bayern | OneFootball

Kaoru Mitoma is generating interest from the largest club in the Bundesliga. The 28-year-old winger from Oita Prefecture in Japan is the subject of numerous transfer rumours, linking him to FC Bayern München.

Mitoma finished the 2024 / 25 Premier League season with ten goals and three assists over thirty-five appearances with Brighton & Hove Albion. BILD reporter Christian Falk stated that Bayern scouts have reportedly been in Brighton multiple times over the last year, and Bayern management are evaluating a move worth anywhere between €40 million and €45 million.

Sky's Florian Plettenberg reports that Mitoma, who is currently under contract to Brighton until 2027, is on Vincent Kompany's shortlist, but he also reports that, according to BILD, there are multiple options that Bayern are evaluating, with Max Eberl and Christoph Freund evaluating the market.

One of those players that Bayern are evaluating is 25-year-old Portuguese winger Rafael Leão; Plettenberg stated that Leão's agent, Jorge Mendes, is on good terms with Eberl already, and that they have discussed a possible move to Germany from AC Milan in recent weeks. Mitoma appears to be the current target, along with Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen, and Leão is a backup option - the latter's current contract with AC Milan is until the summer of 2028.

This is after Falk stated that the push the club made to acquire Marseille winger Luis Henrique is unlikely to result in a transfer, as the board expects the 23-year-old Brazilian to go to Milan and sign with Inter.

Sky's Luca Sixtus wrote in an article published this afternoon, that Bayern is keeping an eye on the forward market, in the case that Leroy Sané, Kingsley Coman, or both, leave the club in the summer transfer window, which opens in nine days. The similarities Sixtus reports, specific to Mitoma, are that the Japanese international is good at cutting to the inside, and that his right foot can deliver powerful attempts at goal.

If Bayern goes ahead with an offer, this would be the second transfer offer Brighton has received for Mitoma in the last year; the English club turned down a €90 million offer from Al-Nassr SC in the winter, forcing the Saudi club to acquire Jhon Durán from Aston Villa on that same day instead.