Bayern Dortmund spat

Ahead of Bayern Munich's pre-season match-up against Dortmund in the DFL Supercup next week, the two clubs are already firing verbal arrows at each other. The reason: Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has been talking a lot over the last few days about termination clauses in the contracts of prominent Dortmund players. BVB's management has taken notice and now they've reacted.

"Borussia Dortmund has noted with some irritation that Karl-Heinz Rummenigge is currently discussing internal BVB matters in a three-day rhythm in the media," Dortmund boss Hans-Joachim Watzke said on the club's official website.

"We are sure that every person interested in football knows what the intention of such statements is," he added. There's no doubting that the comments from Rummenigge, have fired up - some might say, started - a debate about Marco Reus' future at Dortmund.

Reus' contract

In the German sports magazine Sport Bild Rummenigge is quoted as saying: "It's known that the player is at Borussia Dortmund and has a termination clause of, according to rumors, 25 million euros."

In an interview with the newspaper Welt am Sonntag, Rummenigge also said "that it will be difficult for Borussia Dortmund to buy itself out of this clause. The player is in high demand at top European clubs, aside from Bayern."

These are the sort of statements that are raising hairs at BVB. Dortmund's Sporting Director Michael Zorc has reacted to the comments publicly too, to German football publication kicker.

"This is just too much. It would be nice if Karl-Heinz Rummenigge could just keep quiet," Zorc said.

Club boss Watzke accuses Rummenigge of deliberate provocation, which he says is being done knowingly, despite the "strained relationship" between the two clubs.

"We, as an employer, will naturally remain committed to our policy of never discussing contract matters of our employees in the public," he said.

Reus undecided?

Whether Rummenigge is really trying to sew the seeds of another transfer from Dortmund to Bayern, is pure speculation at the moment. If so, it wouldn't be the first time. Last year World Cup hero Mario Götze moved to Bayern for 37 million euros ($49.5 million). This summer, striker Robert Lewandowski also came across to Germany's richest club after a drawn-out negotiation process. Michael Zorc thinks that the main aim is just to create "uncertainty" at Dortmund.

Still, Marco Reus' future remains an issue at Dortmund, irrespective of Bayern's comments. The Germany international, who had to miss the World Cup in Brazil due to a last-minute injury, hasn't exactly silenced the doubters in an interview with kicker this week.

In the interview he did say that he was happy playing for Dortmund currently and that his first focus is on recovering from injury. But, some other words were perhaps more telling.

"Things which could become relevant to me at some point in the future are - at the moment - my second or even third priority," he said. A genuine denial tends to sound rather different. Words like that do very little to rule out the possibility of a Reus move at some stage in the future.