Berlin: Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness has launched a thinly-veiled attack on Wednesday’s Champions League opponents Paris Saint-Germain by slamming the “unacceptable” nature of recent inflated transfer fees.
Qatar-owned PSG signed Neymar from Barcelona for a world record €222 million ($264m) and recruited Kylian Mbappe from Monaco just before the transfer deadline last month on an initial loan deal which is set to be made into a permanent move for €180 million next year.
Hoeness has been a vocal opponent of such inflated transfer fees and the group games between PSG and Bayern, starting Wednesday at Paris’ Parc des Princes, will fan debate with the two clubs having opposing financial philosophies.
“I have made it clear that a player costing 100 million euros is unacceptable for Bayern”, Hoeness told German magazine Kicker.
“The time will come when all those who are currently bouncing so much money around will lower their sights, because the sporting success they imagined won’t match what they have spent.”
Bayern, who are backed by main sponsors and shareholders adidas, Allianz and Audi, have been European champions five times in their history, last lifting the Champions League trophy in 2013.
The fact that PSG have not got past the quarter-finals of the Champions League in the last 20 years is not lost on Hoeness.
Because “only one team” can win the Champions League per year, Hoeness believes investors in Europe’s top clubs will eventually get bored.
“Those who pay out will say ‘we have invested so much money and achieved nothing like what we wanted to achieve, now we have had enough!’ and that will be our time (for Bayern),” added Hoeness.
