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Rummenigge: Bayern Munich “must and will do something” to renew the squad — but on the club’s terms

Bayern Munich’s chairman discussed the club’s transfer plans, guaranteeing that sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic is working to revamp the team, but Bayern will stay true to its financial sobriety.

MUNICH, GERMANY - JULY 10: Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, CEO of FC Bayern Muenchen presents with Corentin Tolisso his new jersey number at Saebener Strasse training ground on July 10, 2017 in Munich, Germany.
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge with the current club and Bundesliga record signing, Corentin Tolisso (from Olympique Lyon for €42 million), when he unveiled his new jersey, July 10, 2017.
Photo by Sebastian Widmann/Bongarts/Getty Images

Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said the words that many Bayern fans have been waiting to hear in his remarks to the press today (Sport1). Asked about the club’s plans to rebuild the roster in the near future, Rummenigge assured the press that Bayern “must and will do something,” but he also downplayed the urgency of any future changes in light of the team’s current standing in 5th place in the Bundesliga.

Rummenigge felt that Bayern already had a solid team, despite their struggles this season. “I’m of the opinion that we still have a very good team today, he said:

You can’t forget that six months ago this team became German champion with a 21-point lead and it is now exactly six months older. So I don’t see the big deal that is often discussed in public. We also had new acquisitions in Goretzka, Renato, Serge Gnabry. I don’t see all the drama.

The strength of the current team notwithstanding, Rummenigge promised future activity on the transfer market in the summer transfer window:

We must and will do something, next sommer at the latest. But I know Hasan is already working at full steam. I’m totally confident that we will have a successful team again by next summer. I’m completely relaxed.

As to any specifics, Rummenigge said he had not heard the latest news, but also emphasized that Bayern have ample time to weigh their options:

I don’t have the latest state of affairs that Hasan has, who’s responsible after all for decisions concerning the team roster. As of today, however, I would say that we have not even reached the end of November; we should wait and see how the next weeks go and then we can calmly decide.

Rummenigge made absolutely clear, however, that whatever the club decides in the coming summer transfer window, they will stay true to their own philosophy. Bayern will not make any transfer splashes à la Neymar, but has collected enough “(gun)powder” to make a bang:

Particularly in the last season we had crazy transfer fees with Neymar, Mbappé, and whatnot, but I think we have an FC Bayern philosophy, and following the FC Bayern philosophy we have always made rational and solid financial decisions, and that will also be the case in the future. We are currently very well-off financially. At the least, we have dry powder that we can load in case of doubt, if it proves necessary.

What targets Bayern sets its sights on this summer will command all our attention.

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