Hoeneß: 'We’ve reached an agreement'

Bayern and leading Russian club Zenit St. Petersburg have struck a transfer deal for Ukrainian midfielder Anatoliy Tymoshchuk, Uli Hoeneß announced at a news conference on Monday. Speaking at Munich’s Säbener Strasse headquarters, Hoeneß reported on the ongoing process of strengthening the senior squad for next season. “I’m assuming we’ll have the player here in Munich on 1 July,” the general manager commented.

However, the precise date of Tymoshchuk’s arrival in Bavaria remains open to negotiation. “We’ve reached an agreement with the player, but we’ve not settled on a date with St. Petersburg. There are a few question-marks, such as whether he can or indeed must come to us in April, or not until 1 July,” Hoeneß revealed. Russian football is organised around a calendar-year season from March to December and is governed by different transfer windows to Germany and most of western Europe.

More time for Mark

Regardless of the Ukraine international’s actual arrival date in Munich, Hoeneß reckons the defensive midfielder will line up in the same squad as Mark van Bommel. “I personally continue to believe we’ll succeed in keeping Mark here in Munich. That’s what we’ve always been aiming for, and I’ve heard no suggestion it’s not possible,” Hoeneß said. The club captain is out of contract at the end of the season. Bayern have offered the 31-year-old Netherlands international a one-year extension to his current deal.

Van Bommel has been given more time to consider his decision, Hoeneß announced, “because we don’t want him to feel under any pressure. And if at the end of the day he opts to stay at Bayern, we’ll be very pleased indeed. But if he decides to leave us, we can understand that too. But what we want is to give him the feeling that our top priority is to keep him in Munich."