Ribery has his day in court

Observers at Säbener Straße noticed one prominent player who missed practice: Franck Ribery. Ribery, it turned out, was downtown at the Landesgericht - the District Court of Munich - to stand trial.

The case revolves around a handwritten agreement and a contract. According to Bild, Ribery's ex-agent Bruno Heiderscheid claims that these documents show he is owed €3.45 million in connection to Ribery’s transfer from Marseille to Bayern Munich in 2007.

The documents purport to show that Ribery had agreed to pay Heiderscheid a whopping ten percent of the transfer fee - €30 million. Heiderscheid is now claiming that sum with interest.

Ribery's defense is simple: “All of it is forged!”

After examining the papers, the judge amusingly asked Ribery to give an example of his signature, “Just as if you were signing a contract.”

Günter Schiffmann/AFP/Getty Images

Heiderscheid is apparently no stranger to accusations of forgery. Ribery's team produced a criminal filing against Heiderscheid by the company Unit International that similarly alleges that Heiderscheid committed fraud and forgery to make it appear as if the company owed him €250 million.

After taking the evidence, the court adjourned until January 16, 2018.

Afterward, Ribery was in good spirits. He told Bild, “It went really well for me. It's crazy what [Heiderscheid] is claiming!” He also was optimistic he could attend the next court session: “We'll be back from training camp, the Bundesliga will already be underway, and there are no games during the week.”

Back at Säbener Straße, Ribery practiced dribbling and shooting for half an hour with Bayern's head fitness coach, Holger Broich. He is optimistic that he'll play against FC Köln.