Franck Ribery enjoyed what can only be describes as a spectacular season with Bayern Munich last season, winning every trophy possible. Seen as the key man in Bayern’s success, Ribery was on the three man shortlist for the Ballon d’Or, losing out to Cristiano Ronaldo on the night.
However back in 2008, there was a lot of interest and transfer speculation surrounding Franck Ribery. Teams such as Chelsea and Real Madrid was linked with the French winger and Ribery seemed to be stuck in the middle of transfer tug and war.
“Ribery is a hero with the fans and it’s a good thing that we didn’t give in when Real Madrid and a few more teams showed an interest in signing him in 2008,” Rummenigge told Munich based paper TZ.
“We solved everything like gentlemen with Madrid, although I must stress that there was no official offer. They made an enquiry and we closed the door on a move right away.”
Although there was no official offer from Real Madrid, it is reported Chelsea made a mammoth offer to secure the services of Ribery and bring him to Stamford Bridge.
“We could have made a lot of money, because we also had an official offer from Chelsea that was utter madness. It was the right thing not to sell him, though.
“That showed all clubs that Bayern are a buying club rather than a selling club.
“That’s the way it works with the big teams. You don’t stand a chance if a team like Barcelona or Madrid don’t want to sell and the same thing goes for Bayern these days.”
Keeping Ribery has definitely proved to have been the right decision for Bayern, who many consider to be the current best team in the world. Whatever the offer was Chelsea made it would have to be a lot more now if any team is looking to buy Ribery anytime soon.
Written by Kyle Farrington
