FC Bayern are reportedly taking decisive action: the €20 million man has been told to seek a new club

However, given Ito’s medical history, it seems highly unlikely that any club would be willing to pay such a transfer fee to sign the 27-year-old. Due to two metatarsal fractures in quick succession, Ito has managed to play just 31 competitive matches for Bayern in two years.

His debut campaign resembled a horror film: he fractured a metatarsal in a pre-season friendly, returned in mid-February, then suffered a second break in his eighth competitive outing, sidelining him until late autumn.

Although he enjoyed more game time towards the end of the campaign in the Bundesliga, thanks to Bayern’s early title security, his body faltered again in February with a torn muscle fibre. In central defence, the left-footer was consistently overshadowed by the established pairing of Jonathan Tah and Dayot Upamecano in high-stakes domestic and European fixtures. 

Even at left-back, where Davies’s own injury woes and dip in form created an opening, Ito remained a backup. In big games, the position went to Josip Stanisic or Konrad Laimer.