World Cup winner Lucas Hernández, one of FC Bayern’s three new signings so far, was officially unveiled on Monday. “We’re really proud that Lucas has chosen FC Bayern. He’s a great player,” said Karl-Heinz Rummenigge at a press conference with the 23-year-old defender. As well as that, the record German champions’ CEO discussed the situation in the transfer market, the future of Jérôme Boateng as well as the potential signing of Germany international Leroy Sané.
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge on…
…FC Bayern’s defence for the forthcoming season:
“I think we have three top centre-backs in Lucas [Hernández], Niklas [Süle] and Benjamin Pavard. (...) Anyone who has three players like that in the centre of defence, together with David Alaba and Joshua Kimmich, has no reason to worry. In terms of the defence, we’re very well set. That’s a top defence, not just for the Bundesliga but by European standards.”
…the comments from Manuel Neuer’s agent Thomas Kroth that FC Bayern are currently not competitive:
“I had a telephone call with Manuel Neuer this morning. Thomas Kroth is not the mouthpiece of Manuel Neuer in this case, it was purely the personal opinion of Thomas Kroth which we at Bayern have taken note of. I found it rather strange. Up to now we’ve always had a very serious and good relationship with Thomas, but since we’re known as great believers in democracy, people also have the right to criticise Bayern.”
…the situation in the transfer market:
“It’s 8 July today and I’d like to remind you that the transfer window is open until 2 September this year. We, in particular Hasan [Salihamidzic], are working on transfers at full steam and very diligently, but I’d also like to point out that so far, there have been no major transfers or anything that you would describe as having a domino effect. European football is waiting for that. (…) We’re ready and we have enough patience. We’ve often had very late transfers. I believe it’s very important that you approach transfer business with a clear mind and a cool heart, but also in a very concentrated manner. I understand that people get impatient, that people expect big signings from FC Bayern. However, after the conversations we had this morning, I’m in no way nervous. At the end of the day we’ll have a team that will be very competitive in all three competitions – and our targets this season will not be any lower.”
…transfer plans:
“We need to make one or two more signings as regards the quantity of the squad. We have the quality, and I’d like to reiterate that. We’ve lost a key player of recent years but brought two top guys to Bayern in Lucas and Benjamin. No more key players will leave us. (…) We’ve invested 118 million Euros to date, which in terms of volume is without doubt the highest we’ve ever spent on transfers. And we’re not done yet. We’re prepared to get what I would call top players.”
…the future of Jérome Boateng:
“Jérôme still has two years left on his contract. We’ll wait calmly to see how things play out until the end of the transfer window and whether he wants to stay at Bayern or not. One of the reasons why Mats [Hummels] actually left Bayern is that the coach is planning primarily with Niklas, Lucas and Benjamin. The same goes for Jérôme, so at the end of the day Jérôme has to set out his position and decide.”
…the idea of a salary cap in European football:
“To be honest, I’ve given up hope because it is quite simply incompatible with European legislation on competition rules. That is why Financial Fair Play has been installed. Financial Fair Play is only as strong as how it’s implemented. I get the impression that we need to tighten the screws a bit on Financial Fair Play and insist on more stringent and better compliance with the regulations. As long as that’s not the case, we’ll continue to see rising transfer fees and salaries, and ultimately that won’t be good for football.”
…the potential signing of Leroy Sané:
“The situation is that he gets back from holiday this week and didn’t want to enter into any discussions during his holiday. He wanted to think about his future. Now we’ll have to wait and see if there’s any movement. It’s well-known that we’re looking for another player out wide. We’re on the case, we’re prepared and we just have to calmly wait to see if it falls into place.”
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