Bayern Munich general manager Uli Hoeness has criticised his Stuttgart counterpart Horst Heldt for expressing an interest in signing Lukas Podolski.
Podolski spent much of the season on the bench since the arrival at Bayern Luca Toni and Miroslav Klose and he has been linked with several clubs, including a loan move to Manchester City.
Heldt told the German press that Podolski could be of interest should he be available – an admission that angered Hoeness.
“It’s not correct to start flirting with a player who still has a two-and-a-half-year contract at another club,” Hoeness complained.
“I don’t know how Stuttgart would react if we said we were interested in Mario Gomez.”
On hearing Hoeness’ remarks, the Stuttgart official responded in kind.
“We don’t like the fact that Bayern have started making advances towards our trainer via TV,” Heldt told Bild.
“We have already had a bad experience in this respect with Felix Magath.”
