Tuchel on the pre-season, personnel & transfers

FC Bayern have started the pre-season ahead of the new campaign. The champions of Germany completed the first full training session at Säbener Straße on Saturday morning before setting off for the training camp on Tegernsee. Shortly after arriving in Rottach-Egern, coach Thomas Tuchel talked to the media about the current situation with the record champions. We bring you the key statements from our head coach.

Thomas Tuchel on...

... targets for the season:  "We spoke to the team briefly and welcomed the new signings, returnees and youth players. It's still too early to talk at length. The targets at Bayern are clearly defined. First we have to grow together as a group and develop our team spirit. We have four weeks until the first competitive game. It's nice that everyone's here and the players on international duty didn't join later on. We now have six days of training in which to bond and drill in our principles. We don't have to get to know each other from the start. That's a good starting position."

... personnel: “Matthijs de Ligt is still doing individual training after his injury on international duty, but it's looking good. We're talking days. If everything continues as it is, he'll rejoin after the training camp and also travel to Asia. Manuel Neuer is still being given individual training, he's switching between fitness work and goalkeeper training. We'll see whether we can also get him involved here a bit with goalkeeper training. The plan is that Manuel won't come to Asia but will be partially integrated into team training after the trip. It needs time and patience and he'll get that too. The start of the league campaign and the Supercup are probably too ambitious target. It's important that he progress his step-by-step. When he does get involved then it probably won't take much time to get back into specific routines. But we simply need to be patient given the severity and unusual nature of the injury."

... the pre-season: "Everybody's very keen to prove themselves. Four weeks go quickly when you think that we’ll be off to Asia pretty soon. So, it's about using the time well. We want to get up to speed quickly. Now we are doing the first training sessions. We have to watch out we don't overstretch ourselves because the players are raring to go and hungry. We want to find routines that can help our game and give us a sense of security. First of all it's now about managing workloads. Specifics will come over the weeks ahead. In Asia, we won't pay much heed to jetlag or the weather. We'll try to use the time as well as possible."

... transfer planning: “We've met very regularly. The focus was on a very close and trusting cooperation with Marco Neppe and Jan-Christian Dreesen, on an almost daily basis. There was also the somewhat larger round with Uli Hoeneß, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Herbert Hainer on a regular basis. It's very important to include their commitment, heart and soul, but above all their great expertise. We analysed the season and set transfer targets, things we wanted to do. The main work was between Marco Neppe, Jan Dreesen and me.”

... possible additional transfers: "Our squad will definitely change over the course of the transfer window. We need a certain quality and personality to make our very good squad even stronger. We have 23 players at the training camp and we have confidence in them all. We have to succeed in reaching the next level. Then we will try to strengthen the group with transfers. We will be ready to play for maximum success from the start."

...new signings: "I know Raphaël Guerreiro from Dortmund. He is very smart on the pitch and super strong technically, an international, he knows the league and understand the language. He's a smooth operator, he can play at left-back or in midfield as a six or an eight. He wants to win titles with us, it was a quick decision. Konrad Laimer was decided before my time, I'm glad he's here. He is extremely hard-working and full of running, defines himself by winning the ball. I have a very good first impression of him. He also fits in brilliantly with the squad. Then we have a couple of young players with us looking to prove themselves."

... the Audi Summer Tour: "I'm really looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to Japan and I've been to Singapore a lot. [Team manager] Kathleen Krüger and her team will organise it brilliantly. I like these trips, it's exhausting - you have top-class matches and lots of impressions. It's part of the schedule at a top European club, so I have no problems with it at all, quite the opposite. We hope to get through this training camp fit and healthy and then travel there with everyone to play some good games there."

First team training session, Tegernsee, Tuchel press conference - our live blog keeps you up to speed with FC Bayern on Saturday: