Bayern Munich Alumni: Uli Hoeneß tells FC Barcelona to come back when they’ve got real money

The Robert Lewandowski saga is traveling the M.C. Escher staircase. The Bayern Munich striker — as he still is, for now — is either finally at the gateway to the sunny beaches of FC Barcelona, or back up top and further than ever, entombed in his somber Bavarian prison. There he’ll find former club president Uli Hoeneß happy to be his warden.

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Hoeneß, now officially retired, is still in the loop as Bayern’s honorary president. And he likes to comment. While FC Barcelona have been scrambling to get a handle on their financial situation in order to renew bids for the Polish hitman, Hoeneß remains completely unimpressed.

“I know nothing about a new offer. As things stand in Munich, as I have heard in several conversations, Barcelona can actually save themselves further offers,” said Hoeneß, speaking at the #neuland congress in Aachen. He pointed also to statements from the current Bayern board on Lewandowski’s contract status, implying that Basta is still fully in effect.

Normally, we might assume that Hoeneß is doing his part in a coordinated push to set the tone on Bayern’s current position in the transfer window — meaning they aren’t working quietly to accommodate their striker’s wishes now that new man Sadio Mané has arrived. But Uli is a guy who’s never shy to speak his mind, and always happy to throw a firecracker or two into a calm situation.

Of course, why not a few more sneering, searing digs while he’s at it?

“Apparently these are financial artists,” he added of the troubled La Liga club. “Who, despite this high debt burden, can still find a bank to give them money to settle these things. Can’t imagine that, honestly.”