Real to launch late bid for Ribery: reports

Real Madrid are set to relaunch their bid to sign Bayern Munich’s French star Franck Ribery, Spanish sports newspapers said Friday.

They said the transfer of Real’s Dutch striker Arjen Robben to the German side has opened the door for the big-spending Spanish club to resume its move for the France international midfielder.

Sports daily Marca said Robben’s transfer to Bayern for a reported fee of 25 million euros has eased relations between the two clubs that were soured over Ribery.

And AS sports daily said Real chairman Florentino Perez plans to talk about a deal for Ribery with his Bayern counterpart Karl-Heinz Rummenigge later on Friday.

Real failed to sign the 26-year-old this summer in the face of stiff opposition from Bayern.

And the Spanish giants then said earlier this month that their mega pre-season spending spree was complete with the capture of Xabi Alonso from Liverpool.

AS claimed that Bayern are ready to let Ribery go in the summer of 2010 for around 20 million euros.

But it said Perez will offer a higher price than that — and include its out-of-favour Dutch midfielder Rafael van der Vaart — to lure Ribery to the Spanish capital before the end of this summer’s transfer window on August 31.

Perez has already splashed out over 250 million euros on the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Karim Benzema and Alonso as he seeks to make the nine-times European champions a formidable force again.