MUNICH (AP) — Bayern Munich strengthened its defense ahead of the Club World Cup by signing Germany center back Jonathan Tah from its Bundesliga rival Bayer Leverkusen on Thursday.
Munich said Tah arrives on a free transfer with a contract until June 2029.
“It's a very special feeling,” Tah said. “It felt very big, seeing the shirt with my number and name on it. I'm just really looking forward to being able to wear the shirt properly for the first time in a match. I want to take on responsibility here and work hard every day so that we’re successful as a team and win lots of trophies together.”
For now, it was doubtful Tah would be with Bayern for its opening Club World Cup games next month. Bayern’s statement didn’t specify when he would join the team.
Leverkusen would be entitled to a fee to release Tah before his current contract expires at the end of June. Leverkusen hadn't immediately commented on Tah leaving the club.
Bayern pursued Tah for more than a year after failing to sign him last summer, when Tah refused to extend his contract beyond the 2024-25 season.
“It’s no secret that we’ve had Jonathan Tah on our radar for a long time," Bayern board member for sport Max Eberl said. "Jonathan had a lot of offers but chose Bayern, which pleases us very much.”
He was Leverkusen's longest-serving outfield player after spending a decade at the club and was a key part of the team which won the Bundesliga and German Cup unbeaten in 2023-24.
How Leverkusen replaces Tah is a key question in the rebuild the club must pursue with new coach Erik ten Hag after Xabi Alonso left for Real Madrid.
Bayern was expected for months to sign Tah as a free agent but the Club World Cup complicates matters.
The German champion has three group games before Tah's Leverkusen contract was due to expire June 30, starting with Auckland City in Cincinnati on June 15. That meant Leverkusen had the right to demand a fee if Bayern wanted to sign Tah earlier, in the extra transfer window running June 1-10.
Getting Tah sooner is important for Bayern because its first-choice central defense pairing has faced a demanding schedule this season and struggled with injuries.
Dayot Upamecano has been out since a knee injury in March, while Kim Min-jae played much of the season with an Achilles tendon problem. Backup central defender Eric Dier is leaving for Monaco, while injuries limited Hiroki Ito to a handful of games.
“In Jonathan Tah we’ve acquired a player with international experience and quality, who won’t need much time to establish himself in our defense," Bayern sporting director Christoph Freund said. "He’ll be a good and important addition for us with his technical qualities as well as his manner and the way he leads.”
Tah was an up-and-coming talent when he joined Leverkusen from Hamburger SV in 2015 but it still took years for him to establish himself as one of Germany's best.
After making his international debut at the age of 20 in a friendly against England in 2016, Tah had to wait until Julian Nagelsmann's arrival as coach in 2023 to become a regular starter for his country.
Germany's run to the quarterfinals of Euro 2024 on home soil was Tah's first major tournament. Of his 35 international appearances, 19 have come in the last two seasons.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Mainz's Jonathan Burkhardt, right, vies for the ball with Leverkusen's Jonathan Tah, during the German Bundesliga soccer match between 1. FSV Mainz 05 and Bayer Leverkusen, at the Mewa Arena, in Mainz, Germany, Saturday, May 17, 2025. (Torsten Silz/dpa via AP)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.
Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.
Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”
Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”
Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.
“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”
He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”
Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.
More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.
With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.
Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.
In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.
Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”
Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.
“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.
The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.
The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.
Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.
In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)
