Baines turns down Bayern Munich move
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Baines turns down Bayern Munich move
January 3, 2011Bayern have confirmed that they tried to sign Everton full-back Leighton Baines, but the player turned down the chance to move to Munich.
GettyImagesBaines joined Everton from WiganBaines famously missed out on a place in England's squad for last summer's World Cup finals after becoming homesick during the pre-tournament training camp in Switzerland.
That always made a move to the Bundesliga unlikely, and Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has now confirmed that the player had no intention of moving to Germany.
"We cannot force him (Baines) to join us. He would rather live in Liverpool than Munich, and that's that," Rummenigge said.
Rummenigge insists his side will be a force to be reckoned with in 2011 following the signing of Luiz Gustavo from Hoffenheim and the return to fitness of Arjen Robben. Bayern struggled to fifth place at the end of the first half of the season and they currently trail league leaders Borussia Dortmund by 14 points.
Although the chances of them successfully defending their league title this season appear slim, Rummenigge says there is still all to play for and that Bayern will start to show their true form during the coming year.
"We are going to be attacking in all three competitions,'' he proclaimed. "With Robben and Gustavo, we are stronger than we were in the first half of the season. We want to knock Inter (Milan) out of the Champions League, win the DFB-Pokal and then we will have to see about the league.
"I am convinced that we will gain far more points than we did in the first half of the season.''
Gustavo linked up with his new team-mates on Monday at their winter training camp in Qatar. The Brazilian has joined for a reported fee of ¬15 million from Bundesliga rivals Hoffenheim, although some eyebrows have been raised about the arrival of the 23-year-old, who has yet to be capped by his national team.
However, Rummenigge is convinced that Gustavo will strengthen his side
"We only sign players who guarantee us improvement,'' he told Bild. "Gustavo can help us out immediately either at left full-back or at centre-back. He can also play in the centre of the midfield. The lad has character and he was the player (coach) Louis van Gaal really wanted.
"Seriously, we are not going to sign any more players in January."
As part of the deal, Bayern full-back David Alaba has joined Hoffenheim on loan until the end of the season.
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Foreign interest from top clubs in english players is a rarity.