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Bayern Munich fans have talked at length over the last 10 plus years about the failed Jurgen Klinsmann experiment, so why stop now? In his new book “Inside FC Bayern”, Bild reporter Christian Falk drops a new big nugget about the Klinsmann Era that hadn’t come to light until now.
In an excerpt posted by Bild, Falk reveals that in the summer of 2008, Klinsmann was pushing hard behind the scenes for Bayern to sell 24 year old Bastian Schweinsteiger. The reason? At the time, Klinsmann didn’t believe that the then-winger Schweinsteiger could play the “power game” that he had planned for Bayern’s attack. He thought Schweinsteiger was too slow.
Inter Milan was interested in buying Schweinsteiger, and even had initial discussions with his management.
However, the scandalous decision didn’t end with just selling Schweinsteiger. Who did Klinsmann want to replace Basti with?
Alexander Hleb.
That’s right: Arsenal’s Alexander Hleb. The talks advanced so far that Hleb’s management even journeyed to Säbener Straße for transfer talks. At the end of the day, thankfully, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Uli Hoeneß decided to not go forward with Klinsmann’s plan. Then, before the season was finished, Klinsmann was no longer the Bayern coach.
Following that decision, Schweinsteiger went on to win the Bundesliga four times, the DFB Pokal three times, and the UEFA Champions League with Bayern and a World Cup with Germany.
I think Bayern made the right decision.