Bayern Munich’s public war against agents, the rising costs of dealing with them and retaining the players they represent has been no secret. The latest example of this was the protracted and difficult renewal of Dayot Upamecano, which required the player himself to intervene when it seemed that his agents and the club were at odds to prioritize remaining in Munich. Bayern’s honorary president, Uli Hoeneß, already spoke in disgust of how the agents wanted to be ‘rewarded’ for allowing Upamecano to renew at Bayern.
Following on from that, it seems that, despite acknowledging the need for agents, he has no interest at all in interacting with agents like that:
“If a player goes abroad or comes from abroad today, he needs an agent. There are many reputable agents, and there are many cutthroats. We all have to succeed in weeding out the cutthroats,” Hoeneß declared, as captured by @iMiaSanMia. “Sometimes they charge 10 million for three lunches; that cannot be acceptable. The agent shouldn’t think he has to earn more than the player. We’ve also had very controversial discussions about this topic internally and will try to develop a concept in the coming months so that we no longer tolerate this. We once tried to introduce a salary cap in the G14. That lasted exactly four weeks; after that, I believe AC Milan violated it.”
Just how drastic will Bayern’s measures against overly expensive agents be? A lot of the world’s best players are employed by agents who will be looking to squeeze every cent out of every move or contract extension. Can Bayern afford to stick to this new concept for the non-tolerance of such agents? If so, how will they do so and remain at or near the top of European football? It is yet another challenge the Bavarians will have to hurdle.
