Last summer’s transfer window also presented financial challenges for FC Bayern. The Munich club wanted not only to strengthen its roster but also to sell several players at the same time, thereby generating significant revenue. However, this plan only partially succeeded.
As Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has now revealed in an interview with the Abendzeitung München, the actual revenue from some of the planned sales fell significantly short of expectations.
Specifically, the supervisory board member named four players with whom Bayern originally intended to put together a major transfer package: Joao Palhinha, Sacha Boey, Bryan Zaragoza, and Alexander Nübel.
Bayern had planned on up to 70 million euros
“Let’s take this year as an example: We actually wanted to sell Palhinha, Boey, Zaragoza, and Nübel. Together, we had expected a package that would bring in between 60 and 70 million euros. In the end, it brought in 20 million. We were then saved by the sales of the young players, including Aseko, Ibrahimovic, and Kusi-Asare.”
The figures illustrate just how large the gap was between the original plans and the actual outcome. Instead of the hoped-for 60 to 70 million euros, the players mentioned brought in only 20 million euros, according to Rummenigge.
Among others, Palhinha moved to Benfica, while Nübel left the record champions for Besiktas. In the cases of Boey and Zaragoza, however, Bayern was unable to generate the revenue originally hoped for.
According to Rummenigge, the fact that Munich was nevertheless able to come closer to meeting its financial goals was largely due to the sales of young players from its own youth academy.
Rummenigge highlights Freund’s work at the campus
This is exactly where Christoph Freund comes into play. Rummenigge sees his greatest strength primarily in developing talent and his work at the Bayern Campus.
“Uli and I had the initial talks with him back then and brought him here from Salzburg. His main area of expertise is the Campus. It has now been decided that Christoph and Jochen Sauer will have full responsibility for the Campus going forward. “The campus must play an even bigger role for FC Bayern in the future,” explained the 70-year-old.
There are two sides to this strategy. Ideally, young players make the leap to the first team. If that doesn’t happen, well-trained talents can generate significant revenue through transfers.
From Rummenigge’s perspective, the past summer transfer window demonstrated just how valuable this model can be for FC Bayern. Because the projected revenue from established professionals fell significantly short of expectations, it was the young players, of all people, who helped close part of the resulting million-euro shortfall.