Jan-Christian Dreesen banked €250 million for Bayern Munich last week, and his first move was to slow the shopping list down.
The CEO told Sport BILD this week that spending power is no longer the question for the German champions. “We can afford any player, but we don’t want to buy every player,” he said, in quotes carried by fcbinside. “Above all, a new signing has to fit the philosophy of the coach and the club. Just having a big name doesn’t help you at all. Football is a team sport.”
He added two tests for any arrival: price is no guarantee of quality, and the player has to fit the existing squad.
Dreesen also pushed back at the idea that the Viessmann cash is a January transfer kitty, telling the magazine the money would not simply be spent on new players and that the rest of the Bundesliga did not need to worry about it.
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Equity, not a transfer kitty
The balance sheet is unusually open. Bayern sold their last available minority stake to the Viessmann Generations Group on 21 October, with the heating-technology firm paying around €250 million for 5 per cent of FC Bayern München AG, a holding that will rise to close to 6.7 per cent once the deal completes via a capital increase.
Because the money is coming in as fresh equity rather than from an existing shareholder, it goes straight onto the club’s books. FC Bayern e.V., the members’ association, keeps 70 per cent control, and the Viessmann package is the fourth and final equity partnership alongside Adidas, Allianz and Audi.
Club president Herbert Hainer framed the deal as structural, not sporting.
“This step strengthens the ownership structure of FC Bayern München AG,” he said in the announcement, adding that a stronger equity base gives Bayern “greater flexibility in a time of constant change.”
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Viessmann CEO Max Viessmann is set to join Bayern’s supervisory board as its tenth member.
Kompany still in hospital
The spending debate is landing while Bayern are without their head coach. Vincent Kompany was taken to hospital after collapsing during training on Friday, 23 October, and remains under medical observation.
“Vincent Kompany’s health is our top priority,” sporting director Max Eberl said. “We at FC Bayern will do everything we can to ensure he makes a speedy recovery.”
The club has said the rest of Kompany’s staff will handle his duties while he recovers. There is no return date.
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