The dispute between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund continued to simmer as Bayern chief executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge told his Dortmund counterparts not
to ‘preach water and drink wine instead’, reports Soccernet.
And with pre-season in Germany fully under way, Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp told Welt am Sonntag his side would be ‘fighting Bayern’s bazooka with a bow and arrow’. He said: ‘The probability that they will hit the target is so much better. Nonetheless, Robin Hood is said to have been very successful.’
The German powerhouses, who met in last season’s Champions League final, have been involved in transfer disputes over Germany star Mario Gotze and Poland international Robert Lewandowski.
Dortmund lost the former in Germany’s most expensive domestic transfer ever, but appear to have won the battle for Lewandowski for this season – although Bayern are confident the striker will join them on a free next summer.
On Tuesday, Dortmund signing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was pictured in German tabloid Bild arriving at the Dortmund training ground in a Ferrari.
That was days after Bayern became embroiled in the ‘Nikegate’ controversy during the official presentations of Gotze and Jan Kirchhoff, who wore Nike clothing despite the German champions being exclusively contracted to Adidas.
In quotes reported by Welt, Rummenigge said: ‘Dortmund have to be careful that they don’t preach water and drink wine instead.
‘They have a contract with Opel. But I have seen a picture in Bild showing that someone drives a Ferrari. It looks like they should put that bow and arrow down.’
And as the row over Lewandowski’s future continued, Dortmund chief executive Aki Watzke hit out at earlier Rummenigge remarks on the saga.
On Tuesday, the Bayern man said Dortmund had claimed they would need a written offer to kick-start any transfer talks. He added: ‘I am not a stock market expert from A to Z, but to say that you need a written offer, as a [market] listed club, to give an ad hoc message to the shareholders is just not right. This only needs to be done when the sale is certain.’
Watzke responded by telling Bild: ‘With his statement, Rummenigge indeed shows that he is not a stock market legal expert. In the case of the ad hoc message, Rummenigge is totally wrong.’
-With New Age input
