Rummenigge praises FC Bayern transfers: “Finally separated from some ballast”

Ex-CEO

After leaving Bayern Munich, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge no longer has any ambitions to be involved in sporting decisions in the background and in interaction with his successor. “I still read the newspaper now, but I don’t want my foot in the door anymore. I don’t want to call Oliver Kahn and recommend something to him either, that’s not my style. That was my goal from the start and I’m glad I made it,” said the 66-year-old in an interview with “Süddeutsche Zeitung” and emphasized that he did not want to appear as a “know-it-all”.

Rummenigge led the German record champions from February 2002 to June 2021, before that he had been Vice President for around a decade. During his time, the Munich team became German champions 14 times, won the Champions League twice and won the DFB Cup ten times. The former professional only has praise for the activities of his ex-club on the transfer market. Well-known signings like Sadio Mané (30) and Matthijs de Ligt (23) came along, while alongside the inevitable loss of goalgetter Robert Lewandowski (34; to Barcelona) there was also plenty of revenue for players from the back row.

“Bayern Munich acted very cleverly on the transfer market this year. I think they signed interesting players. And they finally got rid of some of the ballast,” said Rummenigge. “Many players who have been bought in the past have played no part in the squad. Then you have to part with them after two years at the latest. This time they even managed to sell well.” The often and sometimes harshly criticized sports director Hasan Salihamidzic received wide recognition for Bayern’s successes this time. “Hasan has been scolded enough in the past, this year everything really worked. And now the biggest task for Julian Nagelsmann (coach; ed.) is to turn a squad full of top players into an ensemble and orchestrate it in such a way that there is a good atmosphere in the team,” said Rummenigge.

Rummenigge on the problem of TV revenue: “Everyone wants more money”

Meanwhile, the ex-Bayern boss apparently doesn’t think much of a different distribution of TV income at international level. “The entire Europa League, especially the Conference League, is supported by income from the Champions League. That’s quite a good contribution. The problem is that everyone wants more money. I was President of the ECA (European Club Association; ed.) for ten years, and every time it came to the distribution of TV money, everyone raised their hand. If you want to create the perfect system, you would have to lump all income, no matter from which country, into one pot and then distribute it equally. But what would happen? Interest in football would decrease dramatically,” noted Rummenigge.

The UEFA board member explained the reasoning immediately afterwards: “People want to see Real Madrid against Chelsea and Bayern Munich against Juventus. Don’t get me wrong, they don’t want it in a Super League. But in the Champions League, as a knockout game and icing on the cake. And that’s why you have to be rewarded when you’re good.”

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