Bayern want Schweini stay, could sell Gotze

Posted Thursday, June 11, 2015 by ESPN

Bayern Munich will only sell Bastian Schweinsteiger if the midfielder asks to leave, according to CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, but he did not rule out a transfer for Mario Gotze.

Sources told ESPN FC last month that Manchester United are keen to sign Schweinsteiger, and the 30-year-old was coy when asked about a potential move to Old Trafford shortly afterwards.

Rummenigge told Sport Bild: "I don't know if the story has weight, but from our point of view it's clear: We would only consider a transfer if Bastian were to confront us with a concrete wish. That's not the case."

Asked if former Bayern boss Louis van Gaal had been in contact over a potential move, Rummenigge replied: "No."

The Bayern CEO appeared more open to the prospect of Gotze leaving the Allianz Arena.

The Germany international joined from Borussia Dortmund for €37 million in 2013, but he lost his place in Pep Guardiola's side towards the end of the season and faced widespread criticism in the media.

Asked if Bayern would negotiate if clubs were interested in signing the midfielder, Rummenigge was evasive.

"The duration of his contract is known [until 2017]," he said. "In addition to that, we are not aware of anything."

Pressed on a potential transfer fee for the 23-year-old, he said: "There is only one price, and that's the price of the market, which is controlled by supply and demand."

Rummenigge suggested Gotze, who was compared to Lionel Messi by honorary Bayern president Franz Beckenbauer in 2011, had failed to meet expectations since leaving Dortmund.

"We invested a lot of money in Mario two years ago," he said. "Naturally, our expectations, as well as those of the fans and the media, are automatically high."

Bayern had signed Gotze in preference to Neymar as Guardiola prepared for his first season in charge at the Allianz Arena.

Guardiola had requested that the German club sign Neymar from Santos but, as Rummenigge revealed in 2013, they had told the former Barcelona boss that direct signings from South America struggled to adapt to life in Bavaria because of the weather.

Rummenigge said at the time that he had therefore persuaded Guardiola that Gotze was the better signing, but it appears they may now have cause for regret, even if Barcelona now face a tax-fraud trial over the Neymar transfer.

"We opted for Mario Gotze," the CEO told Sport Bild. "Neymar joined Barcelona, with all the legal problems that are well known."

Gotze scored the winning goal against Argentina in last summer's World Cup final after coming off the bench, when coach Joachim Low had told him: "Show the world that you are better than Messi and that you can decide the World Cup."

Rummenigge said: "Such sentences, once made public, are of course an unbelievable and damning weight on his shoulders."

Since that time, there has been debate over how much influence Guardiola should be granted with regard to transfers, particularly as there are doubts as to whether he will stay at the Allianz Arena beyond the end of next season.

Bayern sporting director Matthias Sammer said last month that the club "never bought players directly from a coach's wishlist," but Rummenigge said Guardiola played an active role.

"Transfers are always discussed by Matthias Sammer, [squad manager] Michael Reschke, Pep Guardiola, [director of finances] Jan-Christian Dreesen and me -- and, naturally, the coach is intensely involved in all considerations," he said. "He has to work with the players after all.

"We had also done that when Jupp Heynckes was the coach -- half of the holidays in 2012 went because of those discussions."