1 Player Bayern Munich Should Be Looking at for 2016 January Transfer Window

Bayern Munich made some brilliant upgrades to their team during the summer transfer window, bringing in established class in the form of Arturo Vidal, burgeoning talent in Douglas Costa and potential future stars in the form of Joshua Kimmich and Kingsley Coman.

Despite the many great additions Bayern made, their squad is still incomplete in some areas, most notably central defense. The departure of Dante, coupled with Holger Badstuber and Javi Martinez's repeated long-term injuries, has left the German champions rather short of depth in interior defense, highlighted by their use of David Alaba and Xabi Alonso as central partners in the recent win against Bayer Leverkusen.

That match ended with a comfortable victory, but the model used therein is not one to take much away from; it worked once and not against one of Europe's top strike forces. Bayern will certainly need suitable center-backs for the games that matter most.

Therefore, it would be wise for Bayern to look for a new center-back to sign when the transfer window reopens in January.

Although a player such as Athletic Bilbao's Aymeric Laporte would be a brilliant coup for the Bavarians, his buyout clause (€50 million, according to the Guardian) makes the Frenchman prohibitively expensive.

The winter transfer window is always a tricky one, with limited selection as competitive clubs prefer to retain their stars until summer and inflated values as selling clubs try to take advantage of the limited player availability to bigger sides more desperate to bring in the players they need to meet their season goals.

Therefore, it will be challenging for Bayern to find good value for money this January. As events are unfolding, however, young Schalke center-back Kaan Ayhan may be just the man for the job.

By January, Ayhan will have turned 21 years of age; he's at the point in his career at which he really should be playing regularly, especially given that he was a regular starter toward the end of the 2013-14 season and was more often than not picked in the first XI last season before an injury saw him miss the final two months of the campaign.

The problem is, he hasn't yet earned the faith of coach Andre Breitenreiter, who, even after a serious injury to Matija Nastasic and in the absence of Benedikt Howedes, opted to put defensive midfielder Roman Neustadter in defense ahead of Ayhan. The Gelsenkirchen native hasn't played a single minute since Breitenreiter's appointment as head coach despite being a very big talent in defense.

Ayhan is the type of player who could fit in very well at Bayern. He's well-built at 6'1" and with broad shoulders but is quite talented on the ball. In fact, he made his Bundesliga debut at right-back and occasionally played in defensive midfield during his youth career. He even scored 15 goals in 23 appearances for Schalke's under-19 side in 2012-13, mostly from set pieces, where his delivery is quite brilliant for a central defender.

In terms of touch and coolness in build-up play, Ayhan is the kind of player who could put in a good shift in a team coached by Pep Guardiola. But whereas Alonso is a defensive liability, the 20-year-old also has the physicality and defending ability to keep things tidy at the back when out of possession.

As of now, Ayhan is still a budding talent who wouldn't command a hefty transfer fee. Transfermarkt has appraised him at €5 million, and despite having a contract that runs until 2017, if he doesn't play under Breitenreiter, the youngster could well be sold for a price in that region.

If that's the cost of insurance to avoid the possibility of having to field Alonso at center-back in a big Champions League game, it's certainly worth it. And given a few years, Ayhan could become a star. Overall, it would make for a sound investment from Bayern's perspective.

@Mr_Bundesliga