Bayern Munich did not sign Ronaldo because "his philosophy is different"
Bayern Munich CEO Oliver Kahn revealed the reasons for not including Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo, who wants to leave his club, Manchester United, saying that "Bayern's philosophy is different from everything the player represented during his career."
After speculation about the Bavarian club's pursuit of the world's best player five times, the 37-year-old, Kahn revealed the secrets of discussions within the walls of the German champion in the past ten years.
"We discussed it internally, otherwise we wouldn't have done our job right. Personally, I think Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the greatest players who ever lived on this planet," Kahn told the popular local newspaper Bild.
And the red team, which lost its Polish top scorer Robert Lewandowski to Barcelona, concluded that "despite the appreciation of Ronaldo, he will not fit our philosophy in the current situation... Ronaldo is a great player, but Bayern Munich's philosophy is completely different from everything that this player represented throughout his career."
On Tuesday, Ronaldo returned to his club's training headquarters, United, to hold talks with the new Dutch team coach, Eric Ten Hag, about his future with the "Red Devils", after he missed his training camp in Thailand and Australia for family reasons.
Don arrived at Carrington's training grounds with his agent, George Mendish, and former team coach Sir Alex Ferguson was also seen arriving at the headquarters, with reports indicating he was attending a regular board meeting with CEO Richard Arnold.
And Ten Hag said earlier this month that Ronaldo is "not for sale": "We are planning for Ronaldo with us this season, and I look forward to playing with him."
In addition to Bayern, Ronaldo's name has been linked to a move to Chelsea and Atletico Madrid.
But Atletico Madrid president Enrique Cereso said the arrival of the former star of rivals Real Madrid is "practically impossible".
"I have said this many times before, I do not know who invented the story of Cristiano Ronaldo, but I will tell you that it is practically impossible for him to come to Atletico Madrid," he told reporters on Tuesday.
He added, "Rumors are rumors and should remain rumours. If you keep fueling rumors, in the end it will seem like the real thing, which it isn't."
The former Real Madrid and Juventus star finished last season as the team's top scorer with 24 goals.
But his team finished in a disappointing sixth place in the league, which deprived him of the opportunity to participate in the Champions League.
United begins its Premier League campaign on August 7 against its guest, Brighton, after the end of its preparatory matches against Atletico Madrid in Norway and Rayo Vallecano in Old Trafford.
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