Quote
Bayern Munich have always had a capacity of finding trouble and strife where no other team would. It’s not exclusively their fault. Germany is a country with relatively few genuine celebrities, so the club once nicknamed “FC Hollywood” has to fill the void. Their recent, unparalleled success has, somewhat perversely, increased attention on negative aspects even further: such has been their dominance in the Bundesliga in the last 18 months that the results and performance are no longer seen as newsworthy by the local and national media. They’re digging deep to find a bit of drama. Thus, a player’s disappointment with being left on the bench becomes a major conflict in print, and disputes about the right to take a penalty provide headline fodder for a few good weeks.
The latest talking points are indicative of the need to fill column inches while nothing of note is truly happening. Like every other club in the world, they’re currently renegotiating a contract with a player -- Toni Kroos, in Bayern’s case. And a player not making the squad for match, like Mario Mandzukic at Gladbach, is not exactly unusual in the world of football, either.
Having said all of that, Bayern cannot pretend these two stories have only been dreamt up by desperate reporters. The club itself made sure they would dominate the agenda by going public on both issues, and they’re savvy enough to have known the consequences. Which begs the obvious question: why did they do it?
In Kroos’ case, the explanation is relatively straightforward. They want to put gentle pressure on the player extending his current deal beyond 2015. This is what Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge told Kicker on Monday: “Talks so far have not resulted in a (contract) extension. Of course it’s always about money.”
Reporters were also briefed that the cultured midfielder wants to at least double his wages from €4m to €8m and get closer to the pay level of Lahm, Robben and Schweinsteiger, who take home €10m. (Ribéry, the poster boy of Bayern’s reemergence on the European scene and president Uli Hoeness’ favorite player, still earns significantly more) The underlying message, reinforced by Pep Guardiola on Tuesday (“In football, you’re here today, there tomorrow”) is that the club will only accommodate the German international to a certain extent.
It’s a tried and tested formula, and it usually works in the Bavarian capital. The only noteworthy player who left against the club’s wishes over the last decade was Michael Ballack. Ironically, his decision to depart to Chelsea in 2006 for free was not (entirely) money-motivated. He refused to meet Hoeness for final showdown talks because he feared that the club’s patriarch would have matched the Blues’ offer and sweet-talked him into staying.
That saga ended in fairly acrimonious divorce. And Bayern’s move could backfire here, too. Kroos will not appreciate being portrayed as greedy, for starters. Rummenigge has also upped the stakes at a time when European demand for German talent has never been greater. €10m per year for a player this young and accomplished is hardly a prohibitive figure, even if the supposed deflationary effect of Financial Fair Play and a hefty transfer fee are added to the equation. No wonder Kroos, who never looks too perturbed on the pitch, came out with a cool response. “I’m not bothered at all by the speculation,” he said. “A decision will be made sometime in the future; I don’t rule anything out.”
Bayern are widely expected to eventually come up with an offer that will prove too hard to turn down, however. Re-signing a player who’s already established is always cheaper than buying a new one of similar caliber. Kroos, along with Thomas Müller and David Alaba, is meant to spearhead the “next” Bayern team once Schweinsteiger and Lahm retire.
But that’s not the only possible outcome. His agent, Volker Struth, who also represents Mario Götze and Marco Reus, could be tempted to do his first big international deal. Right on cue, his colleague Sascha Breese was photographed sitting next to David Moyes at the Gladbach game on Friday night. Bayern must hope that the topic doesn’t prove a distraction until all is resolved -- either way -- in a couple of months. There’s one further complication: without the benign influence of Hoeness, who is facing jail in a tax evasion trial in March, Rummenigge’s more hard-nosed approach might come across a little too strong.
Leaving out Mandzukic for “poor performances in training” (sporting director Matthias Sammer) was also a case of flexing muscles. In that case, it was Guardiola making a point -- and very publicly so. The Croatian striker is expected to play again against Stuttgart on Wednesday, but he should heed the warning to show a bit more application in practice. “Everybody has to perform at Bayern,” Lahm said.
The forward is said to be upset about the imminent arrival of Robert Lewandowski and by Guardiola’s preference of a “false 9” in a few big games this season. Whatever his grievances are, though, the manager must find a way to get him back on side without sacrificing the spirit of togetherness and professionalism that prevailed under Jupp Heynckes last season. It will be a difficult balancing act, with Lewandowski lurking in the background.
Contrary to reports, no decision has been made about his future. Bayern will wait to assess his performances and state of mind before showing him the door in the summer. Even if he does want to leave, Mandzukic can’t afford to act petulantly during the rest of the season for fear of hurting his own marketability. He’s a good striker but no Zlatan Ibrahimovic; blaming Guardiola’s supposed inability to work with big personalities will sound a lot less convincing in his case.
The only certainty is that the topic will continue to excite fans and the media alike over the next four months. Again, you wonder whether Bayern did themselves a disservice by fuelling this frenzy. But that’s just the nature of the Red beast. Maybe they themselves were secretly bored with things going so swimmingly in 2013.
pretty good summary of the current kroos situation imo
tl;dr: its all about the money. if bayern offers enough, he will extend. if not, he is leaving.