Bayern Munich force to wait until 2018 for Bayer Leverkusen starlet

Bayern Munich will have to put their interest in Bayer Leverkusen defender Benjamin Henrichs on hold until 2018 after his agent confirmed he would not be leaving the Bay Arena until the end of next season at the earliest.

Henrichs, 19, has burst onto the scene at Leverkusen this season and has already been linked with a move to Bundesliga giants Bayern as Carlo Ancelotti seeks a long-term replacement for veteran Phillip Lahm.

The 33-year-old is expected to hang up his boots at the end of next season to move behind the scenes at Bayern, which will leave Ancelotti with an enormous hole to fill at right-back.

Lahm has been sharing responsibilities with Rafinha and Joshua Kimmich on the right side of their defence this season but neither of those are the long-term solutions in that position, with Bayern keen to make a move for Henrichs, who became a Germany international earlier this season.

However, any move for the Leverkusen starlet isn’t expected to happen until 2018 at the very earliest after his agent, Ali Bulut, revealed the plan for the youngster.

“For the next step it has to be the right time,” Bulut told Kicker, via Tz. “Benny is supposed to play his first complete Bundesliga season and then confirm that again.”

Henrichs has reserved his best performances for the Champions League this season where no player has completed more tackles and interceptions combined (Henrichs - 48).

For more stats on Benjamin Henrichs, click here to visit his WhoScored player page