Former DFL Chief says Bayern Munich lacks humility by promising new signings

Poor Brazzo can’t seem to catch a break. Speaking to a talk show in Germany, former DFL boss Andreas Rettig has taken issue with the Bayern Munich sporting director’s promise that new international stars would be signed by the club this summer. Taking the morally righteous stance, Rettig said that “despite all of FC Bayern’s merits, talking about a transfer offensive in the current phase, I think, sends the wrong message.” (via Spox)

In case you missed it, a week ago Hasan Salihamidzic told the media that Bayern Munich wished to sign an “international star” and a “top European talent” this upcoming transfer window. This was generally taken to mean that the Bavarians were lining up big money moves for Manchester City star Leroy Sane and possibly either Kai Havertz or Dayot Upamecano from the Bundesliga.

Rettig took issue with the club’s stance, saying that, “FC Bayern should instead talk about a charm offensive toward the fans and members and society. I believe that would be better these days. [But the club must] assess for itself what strategy it wants to evince these days.”

Of course, this seems like much ado about nothing. Brazzo was asked about new signings by the media. Everyone knows Bayern has earmarked funds for certain promised signings this summer. Even though the coronavirus pandemic has introduced a significant amount turbulence to the sporting world, there’s no reason those plans would change. It’s not like Bayern are aggressively throwing money every which way — media reports have noted that the club have put all incoming transfer talks on hold until the situation stabilizes.

Of course, refusing to leave it at that, Rettig also went on to speak about the duty professional football has in this time of crisis. “Professional soccer also must understand that it is a member of a sports community and in the end must come to the aide of the common sport or the general sport and other sports.” How this can be accomplished, the former DFL chief did not elaborate.

He continued by saying: “I would hope that professional soccer here can show a different self-conception in regard to the question of the solidarity of sports and make itself somewhat smaller. The humility that is exhibited cannot be a one-day fling.”

Of course, this would be a great sentiment, if pro football clubs themselves weren’t struggling to keep their heads above the water. While big clubs like Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund have the funds to weather the storm, smaller teams like Union Berlin are on the brink of bankruptcy.

Basically, Rettig’s statements are mostly hot air and nothing to get worked up about. Bayern and its players have done wonderful work showing solidarity with the wider community, with initiatives like We Kick Corona raising over four million euros for coronavirus relief in Germany.

Therefore, it makes little sense to get worked up about a sporting director talking about transfers. It’s literally Brazzo’s job to do so, and he was asked about them anyway. This seems like another attempt by the media to manufacture a false narrative to generate some news in the dead sporting landscape we all now live in. Let’s not give it too much thought.