Hoeness warns over huge transfer fees
Bayern boss says there is no player worth €100m; believes huge fees are bad for game
The huge increase in football transfer fees is both dangerous for the game and risks alienating fans, Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness said yesterday.
The world transfer record was shattered this month when Brazil’s Neymar moved from Barcelona to Paris St Germain in a deal worth €222 million (Dh974 million; $265.2 million), more than double the previous highest price paid for a player.
The staggering spending did not stop there, however, and Ousmane Dembele then joined Barca from Borussia Dortmund last week, with the Frenchman’s move costing up to €150 million (Dh656 million), including bonuses, the second highest deal in soccer history.
Monaco forward Kylian Mbappe has also been linked in the media with a move to PSG in a deal reported to be worth 180 million euros.
“In my opinion there is no player in the world worth €100 million,” Hoeness told
magazine. “I do not want to buy a player for €100 million even if I had the money. That would be too much of a waste of money,” said Hoeness, who reclaimed the Bayern presidency last year after serving a prison term for tax evasion.
The club’s CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has also criticised inflated transfer fees, saying he would prefer a stadium to signing Neymar for the amount PSG paid for him.
German national team manager Oliver Bierhoff said big transfers were always part of the game and will continue to be, adding the Neymar transfer triggered Dembele’s move to Spain and brought €150 million in revenues for a German club.