For many weeks it seemed an absolute certainty that Bayern Munich’s Franck Ribery would be on his way to Real Madrid. If that deal didn’t happen, then Manchester United or Chelsea seemed sure to snap up the French international.
As it turned out, Ribery stayed at Bayern Munich for another season after the German club refused to sell.
Believed
It is believed that Ribery does want to leave the Allianz Arena and his recent comments about his ‘difficult relationship’ with Bayern coach Louis van Gaal have done little to change that belief.
Another fairly common belief is that a deal has been arranged for Ribery to be sold to Real Madrid next Summer. That would echo the situation that saw Cristiano Ronaldo sold to Real one year after the Spanish club had first tried to lure him to the Bernabeu. Although to my knowledge such a deal has never been admitted in Ronaldo’s case, it does seem entirely possible.
The Bayern Munich president, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has tried to make it clear that no such deal is in place for Ribery,
“We do not have an agreement with Real to sell Franck next season. That is a fact. This is talk which has come from Spain and France, but we will deny it because it’s false. Nobody believed us back in June when we said Franck wasn’t leaving, but we kept our word. He will not leave next year either.”
He also went on to dismiss the popular opinion that the purchase of Arjen Robben from Real Madrid would now make the return sale of Ribery much more likely,
“The first time I called Real Madrid about Robben the people there asked me whether there was any chance of getting Ribery now and I said this is not an issue.”
The twenty-six year old French winger is certainly one of the world’s top players and he fits the new Real Madrid galacticos team perfectly. With him on one side and Cristiano Ronaldo on the other, Real Madrid would certainly be a frightening prospect.
Stars
Ribery has thirty-nine French caps and is one of the stars of that side. Since he joined Bayern in June 2007 he has helped them to the Bundesliga and German Cup double in his first season, but a disappointing nil return last time out.
This season, Bayern have made an up and down start but had a great 3-0 win over champions Wolfsburg last week. Arjen Robben scored a brace in his first appearance and Bayern will be hoping that Ribery and Robben can become a ‘frightening prospect’ for teams who face them over the coming months.
Content
In the Champions League draw Bayern were grouped with Juventus, Bordeaux and Maccabi Haifa. That is a winnable group but Bayern will need Ribery to be happy and content with life at the Allianz Arena and firing on all cylinders.
Cristiano Ronaldo did not produce his best for Manchester United when he was in a similar position to this and he had a great relationship with his manager Sir Alex Ferguson. With Ribery obviously not getting on with van Gaal and wishing he was playing his football in Spain, it is hard to see him producing his best.
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