BAYERN STRUGGLE

The Bayern Munich chief executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has said that it will be difficult even for the top clubs like Barcelona to offer the transfer fee demanded by Athletic Bilbao for their star asset Javi Martinez.

Bayern Munich are one of the top clubs in the world and are consistently ranked amongst the top five when it comes to the revenues they generate during a season. Still, they find it extremely difficult to take the € 40 million transfer fee demanded by athletic Bilbao for midfielder Javi Martinez. The Spanish club at refusing to sell the player for anything less than the amount, which is inserted into his buyout clause.

A number of high-profile clubs like Barcelona and Bayern Munich have shown interest in the player. It is also thought that Premier league club Manchester city, who won the domestic title last season, are also interested in signing the player. Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has even prioritised making the signing of Javi Martinez rather than Eden Hazard, who decided to join Chelsea. Even though they have not followed up with the interest since then, interest clearly has gone up in recent weeks for the Spanish midfielder, who impressed for athletic Bilbao last season.

"I'm not optimistic, to be honest. [Bilbao] president [Josu Urrutia] has always emphasised that he doesn't want to sell the player for a price under the clause. The asking price is immense. It's a fee that has never been paid by a German club. There is no club in Europe that is willing to pay that price. I have a good relationship with Barcelona, and Barcelona aren't prepared to do so," said the Bayern Munich chief executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge with regard to the possibility of bringing Javi Martinez to the Allianz arena in the hope of winning the domestic title.