Bayern Munich Gives Franck Ribery a None Too Subtle Birthday Present

Franck Ribery turned 27 on Wednesday (turns out he has the same birthday as my mum). To celebrate the happy occasion, Bayern Munich gave Franck a pen. Now, if I’d bought my mum a pen for her birthday, she would have known I’d run out of gift ideas. In Franck’s case, it wasn’t just that Bayern left their shopping late and the only place open was the club giftshop. It seems Bayern were sending their player a none too subtle message.

“It’s a pen,” chief executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge told the player before he could even open his present.
Rummenigge added: “We hope he’s going to use it to sign his new contract.”

Ribery’s contract expires in the summer of 2011, which is bad news for Bayern as Ribery is consistently linked with Barcelona, Real Madrid and all the other big teams that talented footballers are often rumoured to be joining. If Ribery doesn’t re-up, he can join any of those teams for no transfer fee next year. Remains to be seen whether Franck takes the hint in good humour and puts birthday pen to paper, or uses said pen to sign an agreement elsewhere next January.

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Category: Bundesliga