Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness has told coach Louis van Gaal money will be made available in the January transfer window – although any thoughts of a spending spree should be forgotten.
Hoeness has ruled out any major transfers when the market reopens, and insists the club will not panic buy after a disappointing start to the season. Friday’s goalless draw at Hamburg left Bayern in 11th place in the Bundesliga, 12 points adrift of early-season pacesetters Mainz.
“If a right or a left full-back who can really help Bayern is on the market, then we will certainly consider it,” he told the Munchner Merkur newspaper. “But you can be certain that FC Bayern will not be making any huge investment or any major transfers this winter.”
Bayern coach Van Gaal recently admitted that not strengthening his squad after winning the domestic double and reaching the Champions League final last season may have been an error.
Apart from the return of Toni Kroos from a two-year loan spell with Bayer Leverkusen, there were no new faces in the Bayern squad at the start of the season compared to the end of the last campaign, but Hoeness claims the squad is still strong enough.
“I think the squad is actually better than it was last year,” he said. “The main problem is that Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben are both injured. If we had lost Franz Beckenbauer and Gerd Muller in the past then things would have gone differently for us then too.”
