Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Raphael Honigstein in Germany

You don't often see soccer clubs talking up the impact of one of their rivals' new signings while the rivals in question are downplaying the move as "business as usual." Yet, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund have found themselves engaged in exactly that curious dialogue after Borussia Mönchengladbach attacking midfielder Marco Reus recently announced that he would move to the German champions next summer, snubbing an offer from Bayern in the process. Dortmund will pay the contractual release clause of €17.5 million ($22.1M) for the 22-year-old, who has scored 10 goals in 15 matches this season. As the richest and most successful club in the Bundesliga, Bayern is not used to missing out on a target -- especially when the player in question is young and German -- and the disappointment soon gave way to a number of less than subtle digs. "Maybe he was afraid he wouldn't play (in our team) because we already have two good wingers," mused Bayern's Arjen Robben, one of the wingers in question. A day later, well-respected Kicker magazine revealed that Reus had asked for a guaranteed starting berth at Bayern. The story was undoubtedly sourced from Munich and designed to cast further doubt on the player's ambition.

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