Bayern Munich president Herbert Hainer has explained that the club cannot afford to keep Leon Goretzka and Joshua Kimmich “at any cost”.
Goretzka has just 11 months left on his contract with the Bundesliga champions, while Kimmich has two years left on his deal at the Allianz Arena.
Bayern are intent on renewing the duo’s contracts with long-term offers, but Hainer was adamant his club will not succumb to excessive wage demands as they attempt to maintain financial stability post-COVID-19 pandemic.
“They will certainly not be kept at any cost,” Hainer told Kicker. “The players know what they have at Bayern, they are paid very well here too, everyone gets their salary.
“And they can win titles with us now, and also in the future.”
Kimmich joined Bayern in 2015 and has won 16 trophies with the Bavarian giants – 10 of those with midfield partner Goretzka.
Since Kimmich’s arrival, only David Alaba (176), Thomas Muller (187) and Robert Lewandowski (189) have played more Bundesliga games than the midfielder (174).
The 26-year-old’s 10,620 successful passes are more than any team-mate at the club in the same time period, while he also ranks first for recoveries, having completed 961.
Goretzka, who signed three years after Kimmich, netted five times and provided the same number of Bundesliga assists last term, leading to speculation of a move to Manchester United.
Hainer’s concerns stretch further than new deals for the midfield pairing.
He rubbished UEFA’s reported plans to get rid of Financial Fair Play and introduce a “luxury tax”, punishing clubs that exceed an agreed wage cap in Europe’s major leagues.
“I’m not at all convinced by this luxury tax,” Hainer added. “In the event of violations, a club pays 100 million euros in luxury tax, which is shared among the other clubs.
“This money does not help them decisively and does not really hurt the financial giants. We need valid regulations with clear consequences for fair competition.
“Strong attempts at sanctions have too often been revised or toned down in the past. It doesn’t work that way.”
Despite trying to balance financial constraints and securing new contracts for key first-team stars, Hainer hinted Bayern could still be active in the transfer window – having only spent money on Dayot Upamecano so far.
“We are monitoring the transfer market, which is open until the end of August, to see whether there are still one or two possibilities,” Bayern’s president continued.
“But we almost exclusively have national team players of the highest quality, so there is no urgent need to sign someone quickly.”
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