Bayern Munich are not interested in Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland and will think twice about signing Barcelona s Ousmane Dembele, according to Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.
German champions Bayern were this week named as one of four clubs realistically capable of signing Haaland by the player s agent Mino Raiola, along with Real Madrid, Barcelona and Manchester City.
Raiola clarified those comments by insisting Haaland is not yet thinking about leaving Dortmund, but the Norway international – reported to have a €75million buy-out clause that will kick in at the end of the season – continues to be linked with a move away.
However, with Robert Lewandowski in fantastic form and under contract until the end of the 2022-23 season, Rummenigge does not believe Bayern will attempt to poach Haaland from Bundesliga rivals Dortmund next year.
FC Bayern will not try to get Haaland, the former Bayern chairman told Bild TV. Not just for financial reasons, but also out of respect and appreciation for Robert Lewandowski, who s the best number nine in the world.
Since Haaland s debut for Dortmund on January 18 last year, Lewandowski (100) is the only player in Europe s top five leagues to have scored more goals than the former Salzburg striker (74) across all competitions.
Haaland is not the only big-name player to have been touted as a possible target for Bayern, with Barcelona forward Ousmane Dembele also said to be on the Bundesliga leaders radar heading into 2022.
Dembele will become a free agent at the end of the season and is free to sign a pre-contract agreement with a new club from January, but Rummenigge cannot see a place for the France international in a star-studded Bayern side.
I was a big fan when he played for Dortmund. He was a great player, Rummenigge said.
Since then he s not been the same. Bayern have [Kingsley] Coman, [Leroy] Sane, [Serge] Gnabry and [Jamal] Musiala, all of whom are at a higher level at the moment.
Although Dembele will be a free agent, there will be a big signing-on fee involved. For financial reasons, I think FC Bayern will think twice about it.
Dembele s time at Barcelona has been blighted by fitness issues, but he remains a key player for the Catalan giants when available.
He has managed 30 goals and 20 assists in 123 appearances in all competitions since joining from Dortmund in August 2017 and has been directly involved in 0.65 goals per 90 minutes.
For context, that puts Dembele on a par with Bayern forward Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and ahead of Coman (0.63) over that period, but behind Musiala (0.73), Gnabry (0.78) and Sane (0.9).
