The Star Malaysia

He’ll be show-Boateng

Bayern star poised for PSG move - if the price is right

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BERLIN: Bayern Munich centreback Jerome Boateng could join Paris St Germain providing the price is right, the German giants’ chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge suggested.

“There is no direct contact between the clubs at the moment, but there is contact between the agents, Jerome has two,” Rummenigge said in Philadelph­ia on Bayern’s tour of the US yesterday.

“Now, we have to wait and see if we can find a base at the end of the day to get together and need to find a compensati­on that is acceptable to both sides,” Rummenigge added.

PSG’s German coach Thomas Tuchel reportedly met with Boateng before the World Cup in May, according to magazine Sport Bild.

However, Bayern chairman Uli Hoeness said no formal approach has yet been made.

“If there was a concrete offer, I would have been informed. That is not the case at the moment,” said the Bayern boss.

Boateng, a 2014 World Cup winner with Germany, is cur

€

rently valued at 45.5mil (RM215mil).He had a poor World Cup campaign after being sent off for two yellow cards in the last-gasp 2-1 win over Sweden and was suspended for the shock 2-0 defeat to South Korea, which confirmed Germany’s exit after the group stages.

However, the burly centreback has hinted at his desire to leave Bayern, who are reportedly chasing Benjamin Pavard, Vfb Stuttgart’s French World Cup winner who can play rightback or centreback.

“Basically, we have enough players in the position, both quantitati­vely and qualitativ­ely,” said Rummenigge, in regards to

Boateng, with

Bayern centreback­s Mats

Hummels and

Niklas Suele both in the Germany squad.

However, the biggest stumbling block to a possible transfer for Boateng to Paris is likely to be UEFA’s financial fairplay rules, which forbids clubs from spending more than they earn.

In the last 12 months, French champions PSG, one of the world’s wealthiest clubs and owned by Qatari shareholde­rs, bought Brazil star Neymar, for

€ a world record 222mil (RM1.05bil) from Barcelona, and Kylian Mbappe, for

€

180mil (RM851mil) from Monaco. Earlier this month, European football’s governing body UEFA reopened a financial fair play case against big-spending PSG over the Neymar and Mbappe transfers.

 ?? — AFP ?? On the way out: Germany’s Jerome Boateng could join Paris St Germain provided the price is right.
— AFP On the way out: Germany’s Jerome Boateng could join Paris St Germain provided the price is right.

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