Lothar Matthäus claims in a column that FC Bayern "did not invest a lot of money well" under Oliver Kahn. The ex-Bayern boss doesn't take this lying down and fires back.
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- Oliver Kahn rejects Lothar Matthäus' criticism of his transfer policy at FC Bayern Munich and emphasizes the careful financial planning during his time in office.
- Kahn emphasizes that the club was one of the few Champions League clubs to record profits during the coronavirus period and achieved record revenues in the 2022/23 season.
- Kahn says: "The 'eternal expert' Lothar Matthäus obviously doesn't have access to the relevant facts to make a competent and well-founded analysis."
On Wednesday, record-breaking German international Lothar Matthäus wrote in his European Championship column in "Sport Bild" that Bayern's sporting director Max Eberl was in a dilemma if he wanted to bring in a player like Florian Wirtz. Because, Matthäus claims: "Under his predecessor Hasan Salihamidžić and CEO Oliver Kahn, a lot of money was - let's put it this way - not well invested. Instead, it was invested in high transfer fees for players and coaches and in their severance payments." As some players were and are "overpaid", FC Bayern will have to reduce salaries by 20 percent over the next few years.
Kahn portrays Matthäus as a clueless chatterbox
Oliver Kahn doesn't put up with that. On Thursday, he posted a message on Platform X in which he defended himself against Matthäus' criticism of his transfer policy as CEO of FC Bayern Munich. "During my time as CEO, I always took great care to keep an eye on the financial aspects of the club together with my fellow board members and the supervisory board."
Bayern Munich was one of the few Champions League clubs that was able to post a profit in coronavirus times. "In addition, under my leadership, FC Bayern was able to generate an unprecedented Group revenue record of €854.2 million in the 2022/23 season, thanks in part to the targeted sale of players for over €100 million," said the former world-class goalkeeper and teammate of Matthäus.
Kahn also makes some things clear when it comes to player salaries and therefore puts his critic in his place: "The 'eternal expert' Lothar Matthäus obviously doesn't have access to the relevant facts to make a competent and well-founded analysis."
According to the 55-year-old, all key financial decisions have always been made by the entire Executive Board and Supervisory Board. The former national goalkeeper was CEO of FC Bayern Munich from July 2021 to May 2023.