In an interview with Sport Bild ahead of his 70th birthday, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has spoken about Bayern Munich’s failed transfer and when he could potentially step aside at the club.
Both KHR and Uli Hoeneß have been integral to building Bayern into the club they are today, but in recent years, it has been suggested that both may have outstayed their welcome when it comes to making important decisions at the club.
Both remain a part of the club’s supervisory board, which has an important say in transfers, contracts and other pieces of business.
When the pair would step aside, Rummenigge said:
We will continue this until we feel that everything is 100 percent in order. Unfortunately, it wasn’t 100 percent in order before—that’s a fair point, especially regarding the development of the club’s finances. So when everything is 100 percent in order, we will hand over the keys to our successors.”
Adding:
“I still believe the club doesn’t need less Uli Hoeneß, but more.”
Bayern’s summer transfer business:
Such transfers that Rummenigge has a say in at Bayern are those of both Florian Wirtz and Nick Woltemade. The Bundesliga champions pushed heavily to try to sign both of them at different points this summer; however, moves never materialised for different reasons.
Wirtz ended up moving to Liverpool as the Premier League winners were able to convince the 22-year-old to join their club, while he had also basically completed German football with Bayer Leverkusen.
The case with Woltemade is different as the striker wanted to join from Stuttgart, and an agreement had been reached between the club and the player. However, the Swabians were stubborn about their price tag, so the move collapsed. Instead, Stuttgart then accepted an offer worth €85m from Saudi Arabia-backed Newcastle United.
On the failed moves, Rummenigge said:
“I have to say honestly, in the case of Florian Wirtz, it still hurts, because I believe the player would have been better off at Bayern than at Liverpool. We could have signed Woltemade. But I also have to say: Bayern Munich are wise enough not to engage in every kind of financial madness. I’ve always said: We want to achieve sporting success, but please, in a serious and financially sound way. We have a top team, this year as well. And when the three players who are currently injured come back soon, then we’ll have a great team”
Rummenigge and Bayern:
As Rummenigge approaches 70, it is worth highlighting his importance to the club. The striker joined the club in 1974 in the height of the era of Franz Beckenbauer and Gerd Müller. Then, as their era came to an end, Rummenigge stepped up and, alongside Paul Bretiner, the pair became known as Breitnigge and led a new era of dominance for Bayern.
After 10 years in Munich, Rummenigge was crucially sold by Bayern to Inter Milan for €5.5m, a crucial sale that laid the foundations for the Rekordmeister to become the club they are today.
GGFN | Jack Meenan
