Manchester City demand apology from Bayern Munich president

Manchester City of the Premier League demanded an apology from Uli Hoeness, president of the Bundesliga's Bayern Munich, over what he said about the English club's transfer policy, the Daily Mirror reported on Friday.

"It was the remark of a smug, arrogant egotist. We are also concerned that there may be a racist element to what Hoeness has claimed," said Man City.

When the 67-year-old Bayern Munich boss answered questions about who they planned to introduce to improve their squad, Hoeness first promised big plans in summer and then made the following comments on Pep Guardiola, former manager of Bayern Munich who now coaches Man City: "He puts some videos together and goes to see the sheikh. There is an opulent feast put on, during which he teaches the video to him and the money is transferred. The next day, the sheikh raises the price of oil to recoup the money."

Pep Guardiola, manager of the Premier League's Manchester City. /VCG Photo

Man City apparently did not like what Hoeness said and threatened to take legal action unless he makes a public apology.

Though both clubs are among Europe's elite, they are run in totally different ways. Man City never hesitates to write big checks for top talent. As long as a player wants to join and his club is willing to name a price, money is never a problem for the English club. Since Guardiola took over in 2016, the team has already spent over 530 million pounds (700 million U.S. dollars) buying players.

By contrast, Bayern Munich, like the German soccer league itself, always manages to keep a nice balance sheet and never makes unreasonable purchases. On today's market, where spending 100 million euros (113 U.S. dollars) on a promising young man is not even a big deal, the most money Bayern Munich has ever paid for one player was only 41.5 million euros for French midfielder Corentin Tolisso.

Nicolas Pepe of Lille from Ligue 1 in the game against Guingamp, August 26, 2018. /VCG Photo

However, the Bavarians might have to make exceptions this summer. Their aging players and early exit at the UEFA Champions League are forcing the club to admit that it's time to spend lavishly. So far, the club has the following targets on their list: Luka Jovic (striker), Timo Werner (striker), Lucas Hernandez (left/center back), Nicolas Pepe (winger).

Adding the 35 million euros (40 million U.S. dollars) they agreed to pay for Benjamin Pavard and the 42 million euros (about 48 million U.S. dollars) they decided to spend signing James Rodriguez, Bayern Munich may spend more than 300 million euros (about 339 million dollars) on new players in the summer, the most in club history.