No room for Sancho at Bayern Munich - Ribery

Franck Ribery believes Bayern Munich have no need to try to prise Jadon Sancho away from Borussia Dortmund.

Sancho, who joined Dortmund from Manchester City as a 17-year-old in 2017, enjoyed a stunning breakout campaign in the Bundesliga last season.

The winger broke into the England set-up and has been touted as a transfer target for Manchester United, while Bayern have rarely been shy when it comes to pursuing Dortmund's most valuable assets.

Ribery ended a 12-year association with Bayern before joining Fiorentina on a free transfer for 2019-20.

Nevertheless, the veteran former France attacker believes new recruits such as Ivan Perisic and Philippe Coutinho, along with the likes of Serge Gnabry, Kingsley Coman, Thomas Muller and Robert Lewandowski, leave Bayern amply stocked in attacking areas.

"Sancho is a good player, but Bayern have enough good players in this position, where should he play?" Ribery said in an interview with Sport Bild.

"There is Muller, Gnabry, Perisic, Coman, Coutinho, Lewandowski. There is a lot of competition. I hope Sancho confirms his good year, but there would be little room for him in the Bayern squad."

 

September 10, 2019

Gnabry has arguably done more than anyone to fill the void left by Ribery so far after he excelled with a remarkable four-goal haul in the 7-2 Champions League demolition of Tottenham last week.

"Serge is still young, but he has character, personality," Ribery said. "He plays without fear."

"After his four goals against Tottenham, more is expected, but Serge is a man, not a machine. It's not easy to show top performances in every game, but Serge will continue on his way without putting too much pressure [on himself]."

Ribery also feels the burgeoning alliance between star striker Lewandowski and on-loan Barcelona playmaker Coutinho will continue to yield handsome returns.

"Bayern can now play different variations and Coutinho is good for Robert Lewandowski," he added. "He always wants the ball; Coutinho takes responsibility and serves his team-mates - either the outside striker or just Lewy, who receives great passes."