As expected, the bombshell dropped by Lothar Matthäus during his appearance on Sky Sport, elicited a response from former Bayern Munich sporting director Hasan “Brazzo” Salihamidžić.
Bild (as captured by @iMiaSanMia) contacted Salihamidžić, who responded to the story that Matthäus put out — that Hansi Flick and Salihamidžić went to war over Florian Wirtz (with Flick wanting Wirtz and Salihamidžić declining to pursue the youngster).
“There was never this argument that Lothar Matthäus is talking about. I also never spoke to Hansi Flick about a transfer of Florian Wirtz. That’s complete nonsense. Lothar, in his role as an expert, should check his sources more carefully before spreading such unfounded rumors and not constantly spread lies about me and FC Bayern,” said Salihamidžić. “It’s true that we followed Florian Wirtz’s development since he was a youth player. Our entire scouting department as well as the club were impressed by his talent and abilities. After several attempts, however, we had to accept that Florian wanted to develop in his family environment and complete his school education at home. We respected that.
“During Julian Nagelsmann’s time, we looked at Wirtz more closely, even though he had just torn his ACL. That alone shows how convinced we were of the player. But at the time, a transfer was not feasible due to his contract situation and his career planning.”
Matthäus stood by his story and offered this retort per Bild (as captured by @iMiaSanMia).
“I know for sure that Hansi wanted to bring the young Florian Wirtz to Bayern when he was just 17-years-old and that the club did not comply with this wish. My comments were not directed against Hasan. I wanted to say that Hansi always has an eye on young players and prefers to work with them. He’s currently proving this again at FC Barcelona,” said Matthäus
Well…at least “FC Hollywood: Senior Edition” is going strong.
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