News : Why Bayern Munich is suspended in Europe

Bayern Munich wants to be Europe's number one as soon as possible. At least that sounds like the statements of CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge from the past days. He wanted to "sharpen the focus on the Champions League again clearly," he said recently in the club's magazine "51" and later put on at Sport1 after: "This club is hungry for the Champions League."

Rummenigge has the impression, "that from year to year it is more difficult to win this trophy". But the willingness to adapt to these conditions, can not be read on the behavior of Bayern in the transfer market.

Currently, the squad consists of 17 field players, including the up-and-coming talents Jann-Fiete Arp and Alphonso Davies, as well as the basically discarded Renato Sanches and Jérôme Boateng. Coach Niko Kovac should prefer a small squad - but he did not mean such a narrow cast, as he reiterated on Tuesday. Especially in attack is "certainly needed".

But Kovac is not. Club boss Rummenigge currently uses every opportunity to steer the debate over his club. Thus, FC Bayern as the FC Barcelona "more than a club". In Munich, they are the "luxury" to be different, namely, "more humane, honest".

It is noticeable that the club defines itself over the great past, the future he does not seem to have in view. Fans are likely to be scared when they hear what the record champion is currently trying to do. "There has not been a transfer we call a domino effect," said Rummenigge on Monday at the start of the practice. "If there are, many transfers will follow, we are in position, we have enough patience." Instead of acting on their own, Bayern are waiting for the competition to get the market moving.

Only three clubs make more sales than Bayern

The club would have the financial means to become active. The Munich had according to the accounting firm Deloitte in the 2017/2018 season, the fourth highest turnover of all European clubs (629 million euros) and gave it according to the accounting firm KPMG half of the revenue for salaries. For comparison: The Liverpool had, according to data from Deloitte sales of 514 million euros, the proportion of player salaries was 58 percent higher. The leader was Real Madrid (743 million euros / 58 percent).

Nevertheless, the Munich fight for years to join the price development in the transfer market with transfer fees in the three-digit million range, which many traditional fans like, with the goal Champions League victory but is hardly compatible. This summer, the club set a club record in the commitment of Lucas Hernández (80 million euros). By comparison, Real Madrid won world-class striker Eden Hazard this summer for 100 million euros.

Top players avoid FC Bayern

In addition to Hernández and Arp, Bayern have previously signed Benjamin Pavard of VfB Stuttgart. Needed are one or better two winger at the highest level, a pass safe and strong six, another central midfielder and a backup for striker Robert Lewandowski.

There are still eight weeks left, but the transfer period has so far been under the motto: where there is a will, there is no way. Leroy Sanà ©, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Ousmane Dembà © là ©, Matthijs de Ligt, Timo Werner, Hakim Ziyech, Rodrigo, Kai Havertz - the list of potential entrances was and will be long.

At Sané and Hudson-Odoi the interest of Bayern-side was confirmed. As if the unfortunate acting sports director Hasan Salihamidzic wanted to underpin the famous Hoeness quote from last spring ("If you knew what we already know for sure") with publicly discussed names. When Rummenigge says that he is waiting for the player's call after Sané's holiday, it shows once again how haphazard the Munich management team around Hoeneß, Rummenigge and Salihamidzic is.

Kovac does not have the attraction of a Guardiola

Why do not players like Sané or central London midfielder Rodrigo, who recently joined Manchester City, want to go to Bayern?

• The Bundesliga has generally lost in attractiveness - due to the seven Munich championship titles in a row, but also by the sinking athletic quality.
• Kovac does not have the attraction of a Pep Guardiola.
• The club has pushed the necessary change unnecessarily and now lost with Arjen Robben, Franck Ribery, Mats Hummels, Rafinha and James Rodríguez a lot of experience in one fell swoop.

Sporty, the FC Bayern Munich is no longer a European top team. That's another reason why the comparison with Borussia Dortmund, which is more frequent these days, makes no sense. BVB is rightly praised for its early-finalized access to the transfer market. But what does the runner-up want? Become a master. The claim of the Bavarians is, as Rummenigge confirms, a completely different one.

Liverpool has shown how to build a clever squad planning a Champions League winner. Coach Jürgen Klopp came in 2015, since then gave the club according to transfermarkt.de 438 million euros for transfer fees, at Bayern it was in the same period 314 million euros. The difference is clear and even with the Reds was not every new player a reinforcement, but it shows what is possible with a smart transfer policy.

Liverpool had identified the shortcomings in Klopps squad after his first season and gradually turned them off within three years. The Reds took on Sadio Mané (2016), Mohamed Salah (2017), Virgil van Dijk (2018) and Alisson Becker (2018) - and won the Champions League on June 1 with the carefully rebuilt team.

In three years much is possible, even for the Bavarians. If you want to win the Champions League in 2022, it's high time to buy smartly.