MUNICH – Bayern Munich will be giving several long-serving
players priority in forthcoming contract talks, club chairman
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge says.
"We have a few players who still have a contract of 1.5 years. We are
going to have talks with them first," he said in an an interview to
be published Wednesday
Rummenigge said players like captain and goalkeeper Manuel Neuer,
midfielders Thomas Mueller, Javi Martinez and Thiago Alcantara, or
defenders Jerome Boateng and David Alaba had made "a great
contribution" to Bayern.
"Of course, we will talk to these players with great sensitivity
before we make any decisions," he told Muenchner Merkur and tz
dailies.
Record Bundesliga champions Bayern are expected to enter the transfer
market in the summer and could break the 100-million-euro mark if
mooted big signings of Leroy Sane (Manchester City) or Kai Havertz
(Bayer Leverkusen) go ahead.
Rummenigge said Bayern were not interested in setting new transfer
records but fees were spiralling upwards.
"But what worries me a lot more than the transfer development is the
salary development. It is dizzying," he said.
Rummenigge said clubs must invest more in young players, citing
19-year-old Alphonso Davies, who joined Bayern in January 2019 from
Vancouver Whitecaps, even if not every young player can make it as a
first-team starter.