Karl-Heinz Rummenigge quells Erling Haaland to Bayern Munich transfer rumors

Erling Haaland’s future at Borussia Dormtund is up in the air. His agent, Mino Raiola has recently said there is a “big chance” the Norwegian striker will leave Dortmund this coming summer and said that Bayern Munich, Manchester City, Real Madrid, and FC Barcelona were all interested. He is also a top transfer target for Ralf Rangnick and Manchester United.

“He [Haaland] can and will take the next step. Bayern, Real, Barcelona, ​​City — these are the big clubs he can join. When we moved to Dortmund, we all knew that this step would come. “Maybe this summer, maybe the summer after. But there is a big chance that Erling will leave this summer” Raiola had told Sport1.

From a Bundesliga perspective, Haaland would, in theory, be a natural successor for Robert Lewandowski at Bayern with the success he’s already had in the league for Dortmund. There have been suggestions that his preferred destination is the Premier League, but until a move is made, or he signs a new deal with Dortmund, the speculation of where he’ll wind up next will always be there. For Bayern, the conversation surrounding Haaland has already changed several times, but former CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge is convinced that Bayern don’t need to invest in Haaland.

After Bayern’s 2-1 win over Mainz at the Allianz Arena, Rummenigge told Bild TV “FC Bayern will not make any effort to sign Haaland,” (SPOX)

Of course, much like honorary president Uli Hoeness, Rummenigge isn’t in charge of transfer matters at FC Bayern, but rather only has a fraction of a say, with the main responsibilities falling under Hasan Salihamidzic and Oliver Kahn.

Even still, Bayern’s supervisory board can interject on transfer decisions that exceed a certain amount, and Haaland would assuredly cost well over 100 million euros, which is a type of fee that Bayern is traditionally opposed to paying, regardless of the transfer target in question. Kahn had echoed that sentiment back in May when he was asked about Haaland at Bayern. “Sorry, whoever is talking about it still has not grasped the situation. A package that, as you hear, costs more than 100 million euros is currently unthinkable for FC Bayern,” he had said.

Photo by Stefan Matzke - sampics/Corbis via Getty Images

Lewandowski’s contract at Bayern runs through June 2023, and he is showing absolutely no signs of slowing down coming off of a season where he broke Gerd Muller’s single season scoring record in the Bundesliga. He’s already found the back of the net 27 times across all competitions this season, 16 of which have come in the Bundesliga; a league best tally. Bayern face the prospect of trying to negotiate a new deal for Lewandowski, as he’s one a of a small handful of exceptions in the squad to get a contract extension for over one year being over 31 years of age. In this same vein, Rummenigge feels that the Haaland to Bayern connections do a slight disservice to Lewandowski. “Not only for financial reasons, but simply out of respect and recognition for Robert Lewandowski,” Rummenigge said Bayern shouldn’t sign Haaland.