“Manchester United are reported to have tabled a £62.5m bid to Bayern Munich to secure the services of French midfielder Franck Ribery as a contingency should Cristiano Ronaldo leave for Real Madrid this summer”
With all the talk lately about Kaka and the 100 Million Euro bid by Manchester City, Bayern Munich fired off a warning shot to anyone even thinking about stepping up to the table for the services of Frenchman Franck Ribery.
Bayern Munich are currently on retreat in the United Arab Emirates, where Ribery decided to “hijack” the team bus, according to Tuttosport. However, it appears his little joke did not pan out, as he knocked over a couple of street signs and left the bus with several scratches along it’s side.
Image via Newyorkbuscharter
From Inter Milan’s Marco Materazzi and Juventus Amauri battling it out on the weekend in Serie A action.
When France’s Franck Ribery opted out of his contract with Agent Bruno Heiderscheid only days before his big money transfer from Marseille to Bayern Munich in June of 2007, Heiderscheid pushed for his part of the $33.7 Million transfer / agent fees that came along with the move and took it all the way to the Court of Arbitration of Sport.
With the Luxembourg based Heiderscheid looking for $8.5 Million in damages and being turned down in his initial approach to CAS, the agent appealed to the Swiss Federal Tribunal (Switzerland’s Supreme Court) which not only denied Heiderscheid again, but ruled that he must PAY Ribery back $483,000 in agent fees that the Bayern Munich player had already payed to Heiderscheid.
The Tribunal ruled that because Heiderscheid had a 2000 conviction of Financial Offenses (and Ribery was signed to a contract with Heiderscheid in 2005), his Luxembourg Agent License was consider null and void under French law which states that Agents must have a clean record to hold an Agents license.
TRIPLE UPDATE - The French wide player has returned to full training today and could be back for Juergen Klinsmann’s Champions League Match Day 2 selection with Bayern Munich facing Olympique Lyonnais.
DOUBLE UPDATE - Ribery has been scheduled to have the screw(s) removed from the initial surgery on Friday with hopes that he will be fit for action sometime in September.
UPDATE - Bayern Munich Chairman Karl-Heinze Rumminegge has stated that Ribery’s surgery in Basel, Switzerland was a success and the torn ligament in his left ankle have been repaired.
Every Munich player involved with the 2008 Euros will have at least three weeks off at the end and with Ribery’s eight week recovery period, you’d have to say it will be a welcome rest that will allow him to shut down and get his body back after an extremely long season.
Frances’ Franck Ribery has been named the best player in the Bundesliga, winning 57.8% of the 268 player vote.
Ribery’s Munich teammate Luca Toni was named 2nd best player, winning 24.8% of the votes. Weder Bremen’s Brazilian playmaker, Diego was 3rd with 8.5%.
Not bad for the guy they call Scarface.
This is an amazing achievement for Ribery, considering this is only his first year at Munich.
image via Football-Wallpapers
