Klose Moves South
June 26, 2007
Klose, who had a contract with Bremen for another season, is to sign a four-year deal with Bayern on Thursday and will begin pre-season training with his new club on Friday. The soccer teams have agreed not to reveal transfer details, but Bayern increased an original offer of 10 million euros ($13.4 million) to at least 12 million euros, according to German sports magazine Kicker.
Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said "a fair solution for both sides" had been reached.
Werder sports director Klaus Allofs meanwhile said the deal had come about after Bayern this week hugely upped its offer for the 29-year-old.
"Bayern have met our demands so that we can agree to the transfer in the circumstances," he said.
Money no object to Bayern
Klose, capped 69 times by Germany, had originally said only a top club outside Germany could lure him away from Bremen, but relations with Werder deteriorated after he revealed towards the end of last season that he had been in negotiations with Bayern.
The transfer ends a period of unprecedented spending by Bayern in an attempt by the Bundesliga record champions to reverse their fortunes after a disappointing fourth-place end to last season, missing out on a Champions League birth in their worst performance in 10 years.
The team has spent some 53 million euros to secure new players including Italy striker Luca Toni and the France international midfielder Franck Ribery with the hopes of returning to the top of the German table and competing in the Champions League.
Others to join are Germany defender Marcell Jansen, Germany striker Jan Schlaudraff, Argentinean midfielder Jose Ernesto Sosa, the Turkish midfielder Hamit Altintop and Brazilian midfielder Ze Roberto.
More roster changes expected
The arrival of Klose is now likely to see the departure of Dutch striker Roy Makaay who has already been told he can leave if he receives an offer. Both Feyenoord Rotterdam and PSV Eindhoven are said to be interested.
Klose will now link up with his Germany striker partner Lukas Podolski in Munich, but it remains to be seen how coach Ottmar Hitzfeld will use them together with Toni also in the picture.
End to wrangling
Werder and Bayern had appeared to have reached deadlock over Klose after weeks of negotiations, most of which took place openly in the German press. Werder had turned down Bayern's approaches for the player and insisted Klose, who has scored 53 goals in 89 league games for Werder, would complete his contract until 2008.
"We know we are losing a successful player, but Miro's change of mind and the new offer from Bayern has changed the situation we were in at the end of the season and persuaded us not to continue the cooperation," Allofs said.
Allofs said Werder would be making no immediate move to seek a replacement for Klose.
Werder will go into the new season with a strike force of Markus Rosenberg, Hugo Almeida, Aaron Hunt and youngsters Kevin Schindler and Martin Harnik. Croatia striker Ivan Klasnic, who has undergone a kidney transplant operation, is also still on the books.
"We are watching the market but are under no pressure to take action," Allofs said.