Todd Cantwell reveals Bayern Munich transfer talks

The midfielder, who eventually departed Carrow Road to join Rangers in January, claims he held talks with Bayern representatives in the summer of 2020 – including direct conversations with their then sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic.

Cantwell was hot property that summer after an impressive breakthrough campaign in the Premier League but a move failed to materialise and, after being omitted from matchday squads at the start of the campaign, he became an integral part of Daniel Farke’s title-winning Championship side.

The 25-year-old has spoken publicly about the interest that emerged throughout his time at Carrow Road and believes a move to the German champions would have been ‘career changing’.

“There was a big team in Germany which was immensely close. I was waiting on that and it didn’t manifest.

“I had spoken to them directly and their sporting director and I thought it was going to be a career changing move. It was Bayern Munich,” Cantwell revealed.

“They had made contact with the club and with my agent at the time. I had conversations with them and it felt too good to be true. I had that a week before the window shut and it disappeared in front of my eyes, which was tough.

“I got offers late but that is when the door slammed at that point and that was when it was like ‘the Championship is there’, let’s go and attack it and prove to people what I can do.”

Dealing with speculation became a regular feature of Cantwell’s time at Norwich and he also spoke about interest from Leeds United and a host of other clubs during his spell in Norfolk.

But it was that summer of 2020 when he was really in demand – but the stars didn’t align for a Carrow Road exit.

“It’s something I’ve not really spoken about because I have a mild bit of embarrassment towards it because everything was so public and there was so much interest in the newspapers,” Cantwell told the Beautiful Game podcast.

“When I first signed with my agent, I said to him that I didn’t want to hear rumours, I only wanted to hear if someone was genuinely interested in my services.

“My phone was busy that summer and there was a lot of genuine interest, potential offers and genuine offers.

“Sometimes in football you need someone to leave a club to get someone else in, especially after Covid when teams weren’t sure when fans were going to be back.”