Franck Ribery hailed Jerome Boateng as one of the best central defenders in the world, in spite of the German being linked with a move away from Munich.
Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness has said the club could have sold star striker Robert Lewandowski for €150 million if they had been prepared to let him go.
Lewandowski’s agent, Pini Zahavi, said earlier this summer that the Poland international wanted to leave, but Bayern stood firm.
“We always had control of Robert, but we didn’t have any control of his agent,” Hoeness told Sky.
“He [Zahavi] tried four or five times to get an appointment with [CEO] Karl-Heinz [Rummenigge], [sporting director] Hasan [Salihamidzic] and I, but we didn’t give him one.
“I let him know that I only have time for him from 14:30 onwards on Sept. 2.”
Hoeness indicated that Lewandowski, linked with Real Madrid, Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United in the summer, only had an agreement with Zahavi until the end of this month.
“If Robert Lewandowski can free himself of the large burden of his agent and fully concentrate on Bayern, he is the best new signing in the history of Bayern Munich,” he said.
“We could have taken a fee of up to €150m this summer.”
However, Sky reported that Lewandowski, who has scored four times in two games this season, had extended his agreement with Zahavi until 2020.
Hoeness dismissed financial fair play (FFP) rules, saying: “You can throw FFP in the bin — it’s not worth anything. You can get around it so easily.
“Even if we had €500m, we wouldn’t pay €200m for a player. Nobody is worth this amount.
“It’s always said: ‘How can we get past Bayern?’ If we bought €400m worth of players, no one can get past us. If we bought Cristiano Ronaldo, we would be not 25 but 35 points ahead.”
Germany internationals Jerome Boateng and Sebastian Rudy could leave the club in the final days of the transfer window, the president added.
“If Paris [Saint-Germain] pays accordingly, Boateng can leave, but we would only loan Boateng with a definite option to buy,” he said. “But we would also be happy if he stays.”
Meanwhile, Hoeness stressed that veteran wingers Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery would have to accept less playing time after agreeing one-year extensions.
“They have to understand that they will no longer play in every game,” he said. “That also formed part of our contract negotiations, and they are both well aware of this.”
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