Thursday 5 March 2009

Bayern holds on to Ribery

Asked about the rumours linking Bayern Munich wing attacker and French international Franck Ribéry (25) with a move to Barcelona (read more here), Bayern Munich CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has said in an interview with German sports newsagency Sid that the German club isn't planning to sell the player in the summer:

"Ribéry will stay with Bayern Munich. You just have to look at the facts to know that. Franck Ribéry has signed a contract until 30 June 2011. And we are not willing to release him earlier. For no money in the world.

I won't react to what his agent would have said. I only notice that two weeks ago, Real Madrid was the team Ribéry supposedly wanted to join and now that Real hasn't done well in the Champions League 1/8 finals, the discussion suddenly goes in another direction. You see the picture? I think that some people are playing their own game here.

My friend Joan Laporta, the president of Barcelona, has me immediately contacted after some stories were published. He assured me and Bayern that there's no truth at all in these rumours. Neither the player, nor his agent, nor anyone else has been contacted by Barcelona.

Franck is dealing with the rumours in a totally correct way. He doesn't like the fact that his name is being used in headlines by domestic and foreign media over and over again. He wants to focus again and exclusively on his game and the targets he has set with Bayern."

Asked about the matter, Bayern Munich president Franz Beckenbauer nevertheless said earlier this week in an interview with German tabloid Bild that he is concerned that Ribery is been pushing for an exit in the summer:

"It's always the same problem when a player wants to leave. When he puts a gun against the club's chest, you don't have a lot of choice. With Ribéry you could get the impression that he's lately acting with a certain goal in mind. But Bayern have been dependent on him for a long time now. Without him, we're not the same team."

Read more:
Hleb could be part of Ribery deal
Txiki talks about the summer transfer market
Barcelona denies deal with Ribery

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

He will soon be a barca player :d i bet my money on that .

Anonymous said...

how much?

Anonymous said...

i have to admit i haven't seen too many of his games, but the ones i have seen he has played as an orthodox left winger, which is different to our LFW. it sounds like they would expect a lot of money for him, is he the most suitable candidate?

Anonymous said...

Pep, can you tell me who are the main candidates for a LB and Lf for next season? Thanks. :)

pep said...

I don't know the main candidates but the names who are most rumoured are people like Zhirkov and Lahm for the LB and people like Van Persie and Ribery for the LF.

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