Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone admits “it's normal for Bayern Munich to want to pay the release clause” for Atleti defender Lucas Hernandez.
A report in Marca during the week claimed the German champions had triggered the defender’s €85m release clause at Los Rojiblancos and would pen a four-year contract.
“It's normal for Bayern to look for good players,” Simeone told reporters on Friday.
“I’m always optimistic about these situation and Lucas knows the affection we have for him.
“Bayern will always look to sign very good players but this will be his decision and we are hopeful that the player decides to remain here.
“I cannot talk about assumptions or predictions, pages can be filled, but things have not happened but it is clear where I stand and where the club stand.”
The 22-year-old only signed a new contract with Los Colchoneros in June but Bayern were said to have promised him to be a cornerstone of their project.
Lucas broke through for Atleti during the 2015-16 campaign and has gone on to make 105 appearances under Diego Simeone, winning a Europa League and European Super Cup.
Equally adept at left-back and centre-back, he was also part of the France team who won the World Cup in Russia.
Bayern, for their part, have plans of overhauling their first team after a poor start to the season and their lack of impact in the Champions League.
