Klinsmann concedes Gomez not heading to Bayern

Bayern Munich’s new coach Jurgen Klinsmann revealed Thursday that the Bavarian giants have finished their recruitment drive for 2008-09 and that coveted German international striker Mario Gomez will not among their newcomers.

“Our group is fixed, we have 24 players and I would have enough work keeping them all happy,” said Klinsmann, who took over from Ottmar Hitzfeld earlier this month.

Compared to last season’s spending spree where Bayern spent 70 million euros to sign Franck Ribery, Luca Toni and Miroslav Klose, the club have been relatively frugal this time round.

The champions recruited Germany international midfielder Tim Borowski, who was out of contract at Werder Bremen, and goalkeeper Hans-Jorg Butt, who will stand in for Michael Rensing.

But Klinsmann confirmed that Gomez, the second top scorer in the Bundesliga last season with VfB Stuttgart, will not be joining them.

“We noted the veto by Stuttgart,” said Klinsmann, adding: “If he should be available in a year or two Bayern could be in the running.”

Although Bayern did not break the bank on new recruits the club did spend heavily on building up Klinsmann’s staff and facilities to meet his standards.

The team will open their title defence on August 15 at home against Hamburg.