Selling Shaqiri to Wolfsburg Would Strengthen Bayern's Top Rival

It says something about how Bayern Munich view the rest of the Bundesliga that they appear willing to sell Xherdan Shaqiri to Wolfsburg.

Shaqiri, who moved to Bavaria in 2012 after winning three successive Swiss Super League titles with Basel, is quite evidently an attacker of considerable ability—as he confirmed at the World Cup—but with Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery holding down regular places with Bayern, the 23-year-old may well have to leave the club to get regular, first-team football.

Wolfsburg are a likely destination.

According to German outlet Bild, as relayed by Kit Holden of MailOnline, Die Wolfe will pip Premier League outfit Liverpool to Shaqiri's signature next month should he sanction a transfer. And given his recent assertion that former Bayern boss Jupp Heynckes had "more belief" in him than current manager Pep Guardiola, a transfer would only seal a separation that looked inevitable for months.

Back in August, as he was repeatedly passed over by Guardiola despite Ribery's absence through injury, Shaqiri told Blick, as per Goal.com, that he was "disappointed" to not be a regular contributor at Bayern.

"The coach has decided it, so you have to accept it," he said. "I have to deal with it and try to impose myself. Clearly you're disappointed if you are not in the starting line-up."

Stu Forster/Getty Images

Less than a month later, and clearly increasingly frustrated, the Switzerland international revealed that Bayern had scuppered a summer switch to Liverpool, according to James Orr of The Independent.

"Liverpool made a bid for me before the World Cup, but Bayern put their foot down and told me, 'We're not going to sell you,'" he said. "I will consider my decision during the winter break."

In other words, Friday's match away to Mainz could prove to be Shaqiri's last in a Bayern shirt. That is, of course, if he even features at Coface Arena.

"

According to @BILD, VfL Wolfsburg are interested in Xherdan Shaqiri, and also view Lars Stindl as a potential addition.

— Marco Conradie (@MarcoConradie10) December 17, 2014"

The Wolfsburg project is an intriguing one, and as they've shown over the last few transfer periods, the 2009 champions can flex some financial muscle when a coveted player becomes available.

In January 2012, they paid €10 million to acquire Ricardo Rodriguez from FC Zurich, and five months later, they signed Naldo from Werder Bremen for €4 million. Borussia Dortmund's Ivan Perisic joined up the following winter for €8 million, and following the 2013 Confederations Cup, they broke the bank to bring €20 million midfielder Luiz Gustavo to Volkswagen Arena from Bayern Munich.

Michel Spingler/Associated Press

Over the past 12 months, they've spent €28.5 million on Josuha Guilavogui, Sebastian Jung and Kevin De Bruyne while Aaron Hunt and Nicklas Bendtner have been added on free transfers.

Inserting Shaqiri into a line-up that already has them second in the Bundesliga would only bolster Wolfsburg's Champions League credentials, and given Dortmund's struggles, it would also go some distance toward making them Bayern's primary rivals for the next few years.

Not that Bayern seem all that bothered by the threat.

In selling Shaqiri to Wolfsburg, they would merely underline the notion that, for them, the German top flight is a two-tiered division consisting of themselves on one level and on the other, everyone else.