Sammer proposal rejected
“Immoral” sums: Rummenigge issues a warning
02/25/2026 – 12:47 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
Former Bayern boss Karl-Heinz Rummenigge is calling for reforms for the sprawling consulting business in football. But he rejects one particular suggestion.
Former Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has called for fundamental reforms in the professional football consulting business. In an interview with FIFA, the world football association, the 70-year-old criticized the “immoral” payments to players’ agents and described the current development as a “rat race” on the transfer market.
However, Rummenigge rejects a complete abolition of consultants. “It makes no sense to start things up and say: We have to get rid of the consultants. For me that’s a nonsense story. You can’t get rid of them. They’re part of this business,” said the supervisory board of the German record champions. Ex-Bayern sports director Matthias Sammer recently called for this.
Consultants earned $1.37 billion in the last transfer market – money that, according to Rummenigge, is “no longer in the football circuit, but gone.”
Instead, the former national player advocates an open dialogue. The world association Fifa, UEFA, clubs, leagues and consultants must “sit down at the table and speak to each other openly, honestly and correctly.”
However, Rummenigge also warns of growing dependencies: “We are becoming more and more dependent on advisors – and the influence on players is now monstrous.” The clubs are ready to do anything to get the players they want.
Bayern supervisory board member Uli Hoeneß also recently announced a tougher approach. “We will no longer tolerate consultants alone determining how things go. Their contribution is increasingly out of proportion to the fees that are called for and often paid in the end,” explained the long-time Bayern manager.
