Bundesliga giant Bayern Munich, which had a poor season by its standards in finishing fourth, has made its second significant capture of a busy offseason in acquiring France midfielder Franck Ribery from Olympique Marseille, the France club confirmed on Thursday.
“We have helped Franck to get where he is today and we are not really happy to let him go,” OM president Pape Diouf told the club’s website. On the plus side, “it’s a good financial operation for the club, which proves Marseille can adapt to a market that is not easy,” he added. Bayern will have to pay OM a $35.1 million transfer fee for the Frenchman, plus an additional $5 million if the German side reaches the Champions League in 2008-09.
Some would say that financially — and relatively — speaking, the addition of Ribery is a good use of the $34 million Manchester United paid Bayern for Owen Hargreaves. A very different sort of player to Hargreaves, Ribery, a winger, showed his quality this past week with two scintillating performances for France in Euro 2008 qualifying. The 24-year-old was one of the revelations of the 2006 World Cup; Bayern will be pleased to have beaten Real Madrid and Arsenal in capturing him. Ribery is part of a significant rebuilding process at the German giant, which started with the signing of 30-year-old Italian striker Luca Toni. The club has now added five players since, including Ribery.