Hoeness: Bayern talent rivals Barca

Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness believes that youngsters such as Toni Kroos are key to the club’s chances of overhauling Barcelona.

The European champions have been praised for their strong stable of self-developed talent, but Hoeness, 59, says that the Bundesliga club’s contingent of youth deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as that of the La Liga heavyweights.

“People only talk about Barcelona and their young talent. But we are not so bad. Look at our current team: (Bastian) Schweinsteiger, (Philipp) Lahm, (Thomas) Mueller, (Holger) Badstuber, (Toni) Kroos and (David) Alaba,” he told DPA.

“Kroos has made sensational personal development. If you want to catch Barca, you need such a player.”

Meanwhile, Hoeness told Sky Sports News that the Champions League final being held at the Allianz Arena has marked a shift in the club’s targets for the season.

“Normally I always say the German championship is the most important target because it is the most predictable. Now I have to say: if you have the Champions League final in Munich, which only happens once in a professional career, then you must aim for it as your target,” he said.

“We are successful. We are success-oriented. And yet we have no debt. For a long time it was frowned upon to have no debt.”

“The time will come when you want to buy something and will have to enter not the credit department of the bank, but the hard money department. And that would be the time of FC Bayern and Uli Hoeness.”

Bayern Munich restart their Bundesliga campaign on January 20 with a trip to Borussia Moenchengladbach.