Bayern Munich may extend Franck Ribery’s contract another year

Franck Ribery is off to a blazing start: just five games into the 2016-17 Bundesliga season, the mercurial French winger already has two goals and five assists (and make that eight assists across competitions). In other words, Ribery has been directly involved in almost half of Bayern’s 15 goals this season.

Bayern Munich would be unwise to let that kind of production simply walk away at season’s end, but Ribery’s current contract - signed after winning the 2013 UEFA Best Player in Europe award - expires at the end of the current season. Naturally enough, Bayern is reportedly already devising an extension deal.

According to Kicker, Bayern intends to clarify Ribery’s contract situation by Christmas, extending his contract at least one year beyond the current season. That would keep him marauding for Bayern through the 2017-18 seasons, after which the torch could be passed to some combination of Douglas Costa and Kingsley Coman.