Sebastian Rudy says farewell and thank you to the Bayern fans

As announced earlier, Sebastian Rudy has officially transferred from Bayern Munich to Schalke 04. The move is being lauded as good business for all of the involved parties and should afford Rudy with the game time required for the midfielder to establish himself as a contender for future international call-ups.

In addition, the move instantly improves Schalke’s midfield and should help the club be able to contend with the likes of Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund this season in the Bundesliga. For Bayern, the transaction gives the squad some much needed roster space as it stared down the problem of actually having too much talent.

To acknowledge the support he has received in Munich, Rudy issued this statement via Twitter (@BastRudy) to the Bayern faithful:

Dear fans,

Now it has happened and I must say farewell to Bayern Munich. I’d like to thank you for your support. I’m proud to have played 35 games and to have become champion at the end with FC Bayern!

My family and I always felt very good in Munich. With respect to my athletic future, though, I’ve decided I want to risk a change and go down a new path. Therefore I say to you, “Servus.”

Your Basti

Never one to miss a chance to do some social media ribbing, Mats Hummels chimed in to say goodbye to his former teammate and notorious Mario Kart rival, Rudy:

Now he’s sadly leaving us after all. A really fine footballer and guy is leaving, a virtuoso with a console, a machine on the ping-pong table and on the padel-tennis court, a genius of two-touch play. And he even looks good. Only mau mau (_Neunerln_) he can’t play. Dig in, Basti!

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge also chimed in with an official statement: