Franck Ribery confirms Bayern Munich departure this summer
Veteran winger Franck Ribery has confirmed what has long been accepted as truth: This is the Frenchman’s last season with Bayern Munich.
After 12 years of outstanding service, Franck Ribery’s illustrious Bayern Munich career is drawing to a close. It’s long been accepted that he would follow teammate Arjen Robben out the exit doors this summer, but the Frenchman has now made it official.
Franck Ribery joined Bayern in the summer of 2007, after spending two seasons impressing in his home country with Marseille. The €25 million the Bavarians spent to bring Ribery to Munich (then a club record) has proven one of the smartest moves in the club’s history time and time again.
Ribery has been paramount to Bayern’s success over the past decade, and it’s hard to imagine where the club would be without his help. Though he finished third in the 2013 Ballon d’Or voting, he was Europe’s best player the year he led Bayern to a historic treble.
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In spite of his overwhelming success at the club, Ribery recognizes it’s time to move on. He believes he still has what it takes to play first-team football, but that can’t happen in Munich.
"“When I came to Bayern, it was a dream come true. It won’t be easy to say goodbye, but we must never forget what we’ve achieved together.“We’ve won so much together – more than 20 honors.”"
The Frenchman admitted his future is still undecided, but he’s not too concerned about that at the moment. Instead of worrying about where he will be playing over the course of the next few seasons, the eight-time Bundesliga champion is solely focused on securing his ninth Meisterschale and sixth Pokal over the coming weeks.
Bayern Munich CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge was quick to praise Ribery for the outstanding work he’s done over the last 12 years. He thanked Ribery and his partner in crime Arjen Robben for helping “shape FC Bayern’s most successful decade with fantastic football.” Though there are only three competitive games left in which the veteran duo can play, there will be a big testimonial match in 2020 to pay tribute to their phenomenal time in Bavaria.
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It really is the end of an era at Bayern Munich. Ribery and Robben are just the next two legends to conclude their time at the club. The Bavarians have a lot of work to do if they hope to replicate their success over the past decade in the coming years.