مدير عام كرة القدم
- Hamann tears into Bayern’s transfer approach
- Criticised the club for not practicing healthy club-to-club talks
- Mentioned the failed pursuits of Woltemade and Wirtz
Former Bayern player Hamann has ripped the club’s sporting management to shreds for their public pursuit of deals for Woltemade from Stuttgart and Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen, stating that their reckless approach to transfers would “lead to ruin”. He also slammed the club for being lackadaisical while closing the renewals of their best players.
Bayern are currently experiencing an underwhelming summer so far, failing in their endeavours to sign Wirtz, who eventually joined Liverpool in a British record transfer, as well as Woltemade. Stuttgart have remained firm in their stance to not negotiate with Bayern unless they offer €65 million (£56m/$75m), with the Bavarians already seeing two bids rejected. Details of the emails exchanged between the higher-ups of Bayern and Stuttgart have also leaked, with the latter demanding Die Roten to stop all contact with Woltemade.
On the other hand, Bayern sporting director Max Eberl publicly spoke about the club’s ambitions to land Wirtz in a club-record move this summer, only for the operation to scupper with Liverpool winning the race for the 22-year-old.
Speaking on Sky Hamann said: “Bayern’s problem is: Last year, many contracts were promised, like those for [Alphonso] Davies, [Jamal] Musiala, or [Joshua] Kimmich, which the supervisory board then didn’t approve. This kind of thing costs reputation! Bayern has communication problems; a lot of things could have been prevented if they had sat down and discussed beforehand how much money was allocated for what! And they agreed with the players, like with Wirtz and Woltemade. But you have to inform the other club sometimes. The question for management is whether it’s worth a call to [Bayer Leverkusen sporting director Simon] Rolfes or [Stuttgart chairman Alexander] Wehrle. They found out all about it from the newspaper. All of this cost time and reputation, and ultimately money too. The next one became increasingly expensive.
Further elaborating on Woltemade, Hamann provided his thoughts on Bayern’s interest in the forward and was blunt in his opinions. “There will be movement if Bayern pays an additional €60 million,” said the ex-German international.
“I wouldn’t pay it. He’s a good player, had a good year, but he wasn’t even registered for the Champions League. He only knows about busy weeks from TV! We’ll have to see how he handles the pressure. I do think he could play. But €60 million or more? This business model leads to ruin. For me, Bayern’s interest would be over now.”
It’s not as gloomy as it seems for Bayern, who acquired Luis Diaz from Liverpool on Sunday in a €75 million (£65m/$87m) deal. They also strengthened their backline by signing Jonathan Tah in a free transfer from rivals Bayer Leverkusen. They are set to play their first summer friendly on August 2, when they lock horns with الدوري الفرنسي 1 heavyweights Lyon at the Allianz Arena.
