bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Jonathan White

Bayern Munich want Chinese footballers, the German giants’ Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has told China’s Xinhua news agency.
“We are ready to sign players from China and are very much looking forward to it,” the 64-year-old told them despite past searches for talent coming up short.
The Bavarians, who extended their Bundesliga run to eight in a row and a record 30 this season, have long courted the Chinese market and a player would help their quest for success.
That courtship has all come under Rummenigge’s chairmanship, with the two-time Ballon d’Or winner taking over the role in 2002. He had earlier announced that he will depart when his contract expires at the end of next year.

Bayern’s China strategy has included visits from the first team and the official opening of a Shanghai office in 2017.
Last year there was confusion after the Bavarians were announced to be playing the Chinese national team in a friendly in Beijing in May. The Allianz China Cup never happened and no new date was announced.

The Allianz China Cup, due to take place on May 29th in Beijing, has been postponed. A new date will be announced in due course. pic.twitter.com/gIMWU1uqUm
— FC Bayern US (@FCBayernUS) April 26, 2019

That would have been a fourth visit to China for the club following earlier matches in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and the capital. This year will see them only visit the country virtually as part of the Audi Digital Summer Tour.
Bayern have also set up football academies to nurture local playing and coaching talent.
The first FC Bayern Football School in the country opened in Qingdao in October 2016, followed by facilities in Shenzhen and Taiyuan in Shanxi province in 2018. Bayern have sent coaches from Munich to train the local coaches.

Notably, a team representing China finished third at last year’s Bayern Junior Cup, competing against teams from around the world.
However, no Chinese player has ever signed for Bayern, although the club would clearly welcome it.
Rummenigge’s comments reiterated the claims of Uli Hoeness, the then club president in 2017.

“The Chinese are new on the market because their president has decided football should be the country’s main sport. Football will also be the most important sport in schools.
“We have built four football academies in China and my philosophy is that there will be a Chinese player at Bayern at some stage. And there will be a lot of interest when we have this Chinese player.”
Such interest would benefit Bayern financially, Hoeness suggested.
China crisis: Pogba and Bayern no-shows don’t help the cause of European giants
“If we then probably play at two o’clock on Saturday so that we can broadcast live in prime time in Shanghai or Beijing, then 300 million Chinese will press on their iPhone and pay one euro each,” Hoeness told German newspaper Blick in 2017.
Last year, Wu Lei was the only Chinese player in the top five European leagues, although he will play in the Spanish second tier with Espanyol after they were relegated.


Jurgen Klopp defends his decision to join Red Bull after backlash from German fans

Chinese electronics company Hisense becomes first sponsor for Fifa’s Club World Cup in 2025

Manchester United, Liverpool, Real Madrid: which is the most supported club in Hong Kong?

8 richest soccer coaches in the world in 2024: net worths, ranked – from Spain’s Pep Guardiola and Portugal’s José Mourinho to France’s Zinedine Zidane

German Bundesliga

Bayern Munich still looking for first Chinese player, says Karl-Heinz Rummenigge

Chinese boys in Bayern Munich jerseys take part in a training session after the opening ceremony of Bayern’s Shanghai office. Photo: AFP

Soccer Football - Bayern Munich vs Arsenal - International Champions Cup - Shanghai, China - July 19, 2017 Bayern Munich's James Rodriguez in action with Arsenal's Ainsley Maitland-Niles REUTERS/Aly Song

Bayern Munich's chief executive officer Karl Heinz Rummenigge cuts the ribbon during the officially opening ceremony of Bayern's first China office in Shanghai on March 22, 2017. Germany's Bayern Munich becomes the first Bundesliga club to open an office in Shanghai. / AFP PHOTO / Johannes EISELE

epa08259339 Bayern Munich players celebrate their 5-0 lead during the German Bundesliga soccer match between TSG 1899 Hoffenheim and Bayern Munich in Sinsheim, Germany, 29 February 2020. EPA-EFE/ARMANDO BABANI CONDITIONS - ATTENTION: The DFL regulations prohibit any use of photographs as image sequences and/or quasi-video.

Sport

Football

China


‘We are ready to sign players from China and are very much looking forward to it,’ says Bundesliga champions’ chairman
Comments reiterate hopes expressed by former president Uli Hoeness of ‘300 million Chinese paying one euro each’



‘We are ready to sign players from China and are very much looking forward to it,’ says Bundesliga champions’ chairman as comments reiterate hopes expressed by former president Uli Hoeness of ‘300 million Chinese paying one euro each’


Uefa Champions League

Bayern Munich still looking for first Chinese player, says Karl-Heinz Rummenigge

‘We are ready to sign players from China and are very much looking forward to it,’ says Bundesliga champions’ chairman Comments reiterate hopes expressed by former president Uli Hoeness of ‘300 million Chinese paying one euro each’

‘We are ready to sign players from China and are very much looking forward to it,’ says Bundesliga champions’ chairman

Comments reiterate hopes expressed by former president Uli Hoeness of ‘300 million Chinese paying one euro each’