'The most successful tour FC Bayern's ever had'

At the end of the ninth Audi Summer Tour, Michael Diederich drew a historically positive conclusion in Seoul. At their final talk with the travelling media, he and board member for sport Max Eberl also explained that it had been "the most successful tour FC Bayern's ever had, from a merchandising point of view but particularly because the club has overall developed and set new standards in this area with every tour". The executive vice chairman of FC Bayern, who's also responsible for the areas of global partnerships and internationalisation, added: "The feedback from Asia confirms once again that FC Bayern engages authentically with the people and issues in the respective regions, and this is appreciated. We establish and deepen lasting contacts in sport, business, society and politics. The club has left behind an excellent calling card".

Diederich explained the KPIs, the digital metrics, with a view to the reach of the club media (including over 100 million contact points, more than 50 million video views and around two million fans reached in South Korea), as well as the sales figures with adidas – more jerseys were sold through this tour than in the entire previous year in South Korea, and the shirts with the special local printing were sold out within a short time and have already been reordered. After that, Eberl added that it was also a successful tour from a sporting point of view, not least with the 2-1 win against Tottenham Hotspur in front of 63,500 fans at the World Cup Stadium in Seoul. "Those are our KPIs," said the board member for sport with a grin.  

'Rooted in Munich, at home in the world'

On previous tours, the local fans had also noted how carefully FC Bayern had engaged with the respective region, "but we once again underlined that we want to understand and reach the fans in their countries in our internationalisation", Diederich continued in his analysis. "We are an FC Bayern family, rooted in Munich and at home in the world." As a local hero, Minjae Kim in particular acted as a door opener for understandable reasons. The fans celebrated him at every turn and he felt comfortable as a host, inviting the team to a Korean barbecue, among other things – these trips are always important for team building, too. "This trip did Minjae a lot of good, you could see how proud he was to be here," commented Eberl.

The board member for sport also used the stay in Seoul to speak to Joshua Kimmich, he revealed: "We had a very good chat, he should play an important role for us." Kimmich "often doesn't get the recognition he deserves" from the public. On the current transfer window, Eberl said that patience is required. When asked whether the club was under pressure to sell on unfavourable terms, the former FCB player replied: "Just because you say you want to sell, doesn't mean you have to sell players at bargain prices. Creativity is always there, but we're always talking about people here and all parties have to be satisfied."

Nevertheless, it's understandable that Bayern also wants to generate income this summer. On Bryan Zaragoza, Eberl explained: "He wants to be an FC Bayern player but he came to us to discuss together whether he should first gain match experience with another club on the way." They're now looking at options for a loan agreement until next summer.

Palhinha 'will give us calmness and stability'

Eberl praised new signing João Palhinha ("great character") while explaining that the Portuguese international, who made a 45-minute debut in the second half against Tottenham, is still getting up to speed following his break after the EURO. The FC Bayern shirt weighs heavily, said Eberl, "but he'll give us calmness and stability". On Leroy Sané, who stayed at home, the board member for sport stated that he would get all the time he needs in his recovery in order that he's free of pain in the long term following his ongoing groin problems and surgery.

Harry Kane is currently benefiting from a holiday with his family to get over the defeat in the EURO final, said Eberl. The Englishman will return to training at Säbener Straße next week after the team's return and then fly to the second clash against his former club Tottenham in London on 10 August (live and exclusive on FC Bayern TV PLUS). "He'll get everything he needs from our club," added Eberl.

Grown closer together

Diederich then noted that the meeting with the German ambassador Georg Wilfried Schmidt and the Korea Football Association were also significant. The same applies to the visit to the South Korean Homeless World Cup team, the Youth Cup organised at the same time with talents from South Korea and the fan event with 300 fan club members from various Asian countries, as well as the numerous activities with partners such as adidas, Audi and Paulaner. 

What's more, these trips always bring those behind the scenes closer together: CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen, vice presidents Professor Dr. Dieter Mayer and Walter Mennekes, sporting director Christoph Freund – and he himself with Eberl, as he illustrated with a wink: "You sit together at breakfast, lunch, dinner – even on the flight. Eventually you know everything about each other, even if they snore or not."

All the news from the Audi Summer Tour 2024: