Journalists Are Disrespecting Bayern Munich – Uli Hoeness

Uli Hoeness has hit out at the German media, accusing journalists of “disrespectful reporting.”

The Bundesliga champions, who return to action at Wolfsburg on Saturday, have dropped to sixth in the table after taking only one point from their last three matches.

Some Bayern players were criticised for their performances during the international break, with pundits suggesting that older stars such as Manuel Neuer, Jerome Boateng and Mats Hummels had become part of Germany’s current problems.

That prompted Bayern to hold two Friday news conferences, one with coach Niko Kovac and the other with Hoeness, CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic.

Hoeness said it was “time the most important club in Germany took a clear stance” and added that they “will no longer respect disrespectful reporting.”

Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde, who only worked with Neymar briefly, also suggested it would be tough for a deal to be done.

“It’s always good for [the press] to ask these questions, but Neymar’s at another team now and it’s all speculation,” Valverde said in a news conference on Friday. “We’re not even in the transfer market. It’s a question to distract us all, although you don’t know what can happen in football. Anything can happen, but it’s difficult. We will see.”

The PSG forward’s exit sparked a war of words between the player and Barcelona, with Jordi Mestre, the La Liga champions’ other vice president, criticising the way the deal was done.

“What hurt me the most was the way it happened,” he said earlier this year. “We were all on tour talking with him and his father, and they were not transparent.

“He played cat and mouse with us. He told us nothing. If he had done, PSG would have been able to buy him for less money and it would have cost us less to sign [replacements], too.”