After Philipp Lahm confirmed he will retire from football at the end of season, Bayern Munich CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has released a statement on the World Cup winners decision – after the club hierarchy had excepted Lahm to take up the sporting director role.
“FC Bayern München is surprised by the approach of Philipp Lahm and his adviser. Uli Hoeneß and I have held open, intensive and constructive talks with Philipp in recent months about a possible position as sporting director of our club. At the end of last week, he informed us that he is currently not available for such a position and that he would like an early termination of his player contract, which runs until June 2018, at the end of the current season.
Until yesterday we assumed that there would be a joint announcement on this decision by Philipp Lahm and FC Bayern München.
Philipp Lahm has been an important player for FC Bayern München for over a decade. We are convinced that our captain will now concentrate fully with the team on the tough upcoming tasks in the Bundesliga, Champions League and DFB Cup. We would like to make clear that the door will always remain open for Philipp at FC Bayern München.”
