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Court orders Ribery to pay millions to agent 18 December 2011
Bayern Munich winger Franck Ribery must pay nearly three million euros to his former agent, Bruno Heiderscheid.
The 17th Civil Chamber of the District Court in Luxembourg ruled on Friday that the Frenchman owes Heiderscheid the hefty sum after Ribery did not pay commission to his former representative when he joined Marseille from Galatasaray in 2005.
Ribery was a client of Heiderscheid between 2005 and 2007, with the 28-year-old firing the agent two weeks before his 25m euros switch to Bayern Munich was completed.
Despite winning the case, the player's former representative is now set to take Ribery to court once again, claiming he is owed a further 3.5meuros in commission as part of the deal that took the French international to the Bundesliga.
Ribery featured in Bayern's 3-0 victory over Koln on Friday yet was shown a red card in the club's final Bundesliga fixture of 2011.
Borussia Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke has denied that Manchester United have offered to buy Mario Gotze and Mats Hummels.
Reports emerged on Saturday suggesting the English giants were told Gotze will be allowed to leave for 60 million euros, while Hummels could go for 18m euros.
However, Watzke quashed the rumours, saying his players are not for sale at any price."There is no offer," the CEO told Liga Total.
"And even if they bid 120m euros, (Gotze and Hummels) would stay with us, because we don't want to sell."
"We want to play football, not to open as a bank. We want to make our five million fans happy, we can't do that by selling players."
Gotze's agent Volker Struth also quashed the rumours, and affirmed his client's intention to see out his contract.
"We will have no talks (with other clubs). Mario has a contract until 2014 and wants to honour it. There are no discussions with other clubs, not even with Bayern Munich," Struth said.
Both Gotze (19) and Hummels (23) have contracts that expire in 2014. The two have been in high demand, with Arsenal having had a bid of around 30m euros rejected for Gotze in August.
BVB have held firm, however, rejecting that offer, as well as an approach from Bayern Munich for Hummels.
Schalke´s Raul set for contract talks 18 December 2011
Schalke forward Raul has announced his future at the club will be decided in the New Year.
The 34-year-old reportedly still receives two million euros from Real Madrid on top of the five million he commands from the Gelsenkirchen club, but both of these agreements are set to expire in the summer.
Schalke are unwilling to up their costs, and this has prompted speculation that the Spain international might leave the Royal Blues soon.
"I will continue to play (at Schalke), but (contract) discussions are scheduled for January," Raul told Sky Deutschland.
The striker, who bagged a hat-trick during his side's 5-0 mauling of Werder Bremen on Saturday, has been one of the top performers for the club this season, scoring 10 goals and providing four assists in 17 games.
Schalke consolidated third place in the Bundesliga standings following their emphatic win at the Veltins Arena.
Bundesliga wrap: ´Gladbach consolidate top four spot 19 December 2011
Borussia Moenchengladbach recorded a 1-0 victory over Mainz in the Bundesliga on Sunday, while Hannover's winless run continued.
A through ball from Marco Reus, who was a constant threat, played through Patrick Herrmann to net the opener after five minutes, as Lucien Favre's men went four points clear in fourth.
In a blow to the victors, attacker Reus limped off with what appeared to be a knee injury in the 83rd minute, while Mainz boss Thomas Tuchel was banished to the stands early in the second half.
Moenchengladbach are four points adrift of league leaders Bayern Munich, while Mainz sit 14th.
In the day's other game, Kaiserslautern and Hannover had their winless league runs extended to seven matches after they played out a 1-1 draw.
Norway forward Mohammed Abdellaoue netted his ninth league goal of the campaign for Hannover on 13 minutes, but Slovakian Adam Nemec cancelled out the opener midway through the second half.
Hannover are seventh after the draw, while Kaiserslautern sit a lowly 17th, two points adrift of Nuremberg.
Bundesliga outfit Hertha Berlin have sacked head coach Markus Babbel with immediate effect.
Babbel's contract with Hertha was due to expire at the end of the season and he recently revealed that he had no intention of signing a new deal with the Berlin side.
The 39-year-old coach also criticised the club for their conduct in the aftermath of his announcement, and last year's 2. Bundesliga champions have now decided to say farewell to Babbel.
"On Sunday, December 18, Hertha BSC have relieved head coach Markus Babbel of his duties with immediate effect. The decision will be further explained at a press conference at 1700CET," an official statement reads.
The former Germany international started as Hertha coach in the summer of 2010 and guided them back to the Bundesliga in his first season in charge.
They currently sit 11th in the German top tier.
Hertha have been linked with Eskisehirspor boss Michael Skibbe as Babbel's replacement, but the 46-year-old has denied rumours that he could be on his way to Berlin.
Voller fumes after Leverkusen loss Bayer Leverkusen's director of sport Rudi Voller has demanded changes after Saturday's 3-0 defeat at home to Nuremberg.
Voller actually appeared to welcome the defeat, which he claims merely confirmed that things are not right at the club.
"We cannot and certainly must not be satisfied with just 26 points in the first half of the season," he said. "We could see all season that something was not right and small successes and the recent run of six games without defeat just hid that."
"If we had beaten Nuremberg, then maybe things would have just gone on as they were. "The only positive from such a performance is that we can no longer just sweep things under the carpet, but now we have to discuss things seriously in our training camp."
Leverkusen will travel to Portugal in the new year to prepare for the restart of the Bundesliga and an upcoming Champions League clash with Barcelona. But it is going to be a difficult few weeks until then for coach Robin Dutt.
"We will now lick our wounds and then, after Christmas, we will lay everything out on the table," Voller added. "It was very disappointing. You can at least try, but you could not see any of that with some of our players.
"It was a mental problem after the Champions League draw. Some of our players were clearly thinking about Barcelona and not Nuremberg, even though we had warned about this in advance. "Clearly our warning was not heard."
New deals for Bremen duo
Werder Bremen coach Thomas Schaaf and director of football Klaus Allofs have both extended their contracts by two and three years respectively.
Dortmund consider selling Barrios
Borussia Dortmund will not stand in the way of Lucas Barrios if he decides to seek a transfer in January.
Rettig confident of Augsburg survival
Augsburg's general manager Andreas Rettig is optimistic his side can avoid relegation straight back down to the second division, and has given his backing to coach Jos Luhukay.
Gladbach keen to retain Reus
Borussia Monchengladbach's director of sport Max Eberl has denied that Bayern Munich have made an enquiry for his club's attacking midfielder Marco Reus.
New deals for Bremen duo Werder Bremen coach Thomas Schaaf and director of football Klaus Allofs have both extended their contracts by two and three years respectively.
After months of negotiations, the Bundesliga club announced on Monday that the pair have agreed to continue a partnership which has lasted almost 13 years.
"Today is a beautiful day," said Allofs. "We have followed a long and successful path together and it is now an attractive challenge to proceed even further along it. "We want to build on the successes of recent years."
Bremen won a league and cup double in 2004 and won the DFB-Pokal again in 2009, when they also reached the final of the UEFA Cup.
The DFB-Pokal was the first trophy Schaaf won after being promoted from reserve-team coach to replace Felix Magath in May 1999, and he will take his tenure into a 15th season from next August.
"It is fantastic that we can further continue our mutual path," he said. "We have a lot in mind and we want to carry on trying to give our team a distinctive face."
Bremen's chairman Willi Lemke announced the new contracts at a press conference on Monday, saying he is "extremely delighted" to have been able to lead the negotiations to a successful conclusion.
"Our aim was to reach an agreement before Christmas, and we have managed it," he added.
Should Schaaf fulfil his new contract, he will become the club's all-time longest-serving coach, replacing Otto Rehhagel.
Dortmund consider selling Barrios Borussia Dortmund will not stand in the way of Lucas Barrios if he decides to seek a transfer in January.
The Paraguay international has failed to get back into the Dortmund team on a regular basis this season after picking up an injury at the Copa America last summer.
The club's top goalscorer in each of the last two seasons has expressed his unhappiness at the current situation and Dortmund general manager Hans-Joachim Watzke admits they may have to consider selling him this winter.
"Obviously Lucas is unhappy when he is not playing," Watzke told the Bild newspaper.
"I would prefer it if he were to stay, but if he does come to us and say he wants to go then we would have to talk about it."
Bayern Munich defender Breno will not be allowed to travel with his team-mates to January's training camp in Qatar.
The Brazilian spent 12 days in prison in connection with a fire at his home in Grunwald, and one of the conditions of his release on October 6 was that he not be allowed to leave the country.
Bundesliga leaders Bayern had hoped that Breno would be granted special dispensation to attend the club's training camp in Qatar between January 2 and 9, but the district court of Munich rejected the request.
"The reporting requirements have been eased slightly but Mr Borges (Breno) cannot travel," Thomas Steinkraus-Koch, spokesman for the prosecution, told Bild.
"The defence has the opportunity to appeal against this ruling."
Breno, who has been undergoing psychotherapy since his release, arrived at Bayern from Sao Paulo in 2008 but has struggled to nail down a regular berth at the Bavarian club.
He has been linked with a move to league rivals Hertha Berlin.
Cologne defender Tomoaki Makino may be loaned out for financial reasons during the January transfer window.
"We don't have any room in the budget for transfers," Cologne sporting director Volker Finke told Express on Monday."We can only spend if we create income."
Makino's spell in Germany has been disappointing to date.Since joining the club last winter he has only made eight appearances, three of which have been in the past month.
The former Sanfrecce Hiroshima man is a regular in the Japanese national team, but has struggled to find a place in the starting line-up because of a lack of match practice.
"We're looking for a club for Makino where he can catch up on playing experience for six months," Finke said."But there's still some work needed to be done."
One club reportedly interested in the 24-year-old is Japanese side Urawa Reds, who finished 15th in this year's J-League season.
Such a move would benefit Makino as he would be reunited with former Sanfrecce Hiroshima manager Mihailo Petrovic.
Finke also has a connection to the Reds, having managed the club in 2009 and 2010.
Magath expects more from Wolfsburg
Wolfsburg coach Felix Magath has admitted to making mistakes in 2011, but says he will get it right next year.
Breno refused entry into Qatar
Bayern Munich defender Breno will not join his team-mates for their winter break camp in Qatar after being refused permission to leave Germany.
Klopp admits BVB interest in Beister
Borussia Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp admits his side are taking a keen interest in Hamburg youngster Maximilian Beister.
Skibbe tipped to take over at Hertha Michael Skibbe is on the verge of becoming the new coach of Bundesliga club Hertha Berlin, according to reports in Germany.
Hertha aim to move on from Babbel departure 21 December 2011
Caretaker Hertha Berlin manager Rainer Widmayer hopes the club can put Markus Babbel's departure behind them when they take on Kaiserslautern. Hertha face fellow Bundesliga club Kaiserslautern in the DFB-Pokal on Wednesday, with Babbel's former assistant Widmayer to take the reins on the back of a six-game winless run.
"I think the game tomorrow is so important that it doesn't make sense to linger in the past but we have to look forward. The team and I will have to play a great game and just qualify for the next round. The team is ready and fired up to give the right response to their fans," he said.
"We need to try and keep the ball and find the right balance between defense and offense in order to change gears when we have the ball and then create chances. There will be a team on the pitch tomorrow that will give everything for Hertha." Hertha parted ways with Babbel after he criticised the club for their reaction to his refusal to sign a new deal at the end of the year.
Hertha have been linked with Eskisehirspor boss Michael Skibbe as a permanent replacement, but the 46-year-old has denied rumours that he could be on his way to the club.
Mainz defender Bo Svensson could miss the rest of the season after suffering a serious knee injury.
The Dane faces months on the sidelines after injuring himself in Mainz's 1-0 defeat at the hands of Borussia Moenchengladbach, where he was carried off on a stretcher following a tussle with Mike Hanke.
The club later confirmed on their official website that an MRI scan showed the 32-year-old had suffered damage to the posterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, although they refused to state whether he would undergo surgery.
Svensson is expected to be out for several months as he recovers, and at this point his participation in the 2012 European Championships is in serious doubt.
Hertha Berlin have appointed Michael Skibbe as their new coach on a two-and-a-half year deal, the Bundesliga club announced on Thursday.
The 46-year-old will replace Markus Babbel, who was sacked on Sunday after a falling out with general manager Michael Preetz, at the helm of the 2. Bundesliga champions.
Skibbe joins from Eskisehirspor with the Turkish Super Lig side reportedly paid 250,000 euros in compensation, and has been given a deal until the end of the 2013-14 season.
Babbel's former assistant Rainer Widmayer, who took charge of Hertha during their 3-1 win over Kaiserslautern in the DFB Pokal, has also left the club.
Skibbe takes charge of a Hertha side sitting 11th, just four points clear of the drop zone, in the Bundesliga, and he said they belong near the top of the league.
"Hertha belongs in the upper third of the Bundesliga. They have played a very strong season so far," he said.
His appointment marks a return to the Bundesliga after spells at Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen and Eintracht Frankfurt.
Skibbe was also an assistant to former Germany boss Rudi Voller from 2000 to 2004.
Abdessadki dirty over shampoo sacking 23 December 2011
Freiburg's decision to sack Yacine Abdessadki for allegedly stealing shampoo from a hotel was "unjustified", according to his representatives.
The French midfielder had his contract with the relegation-threatened Bundesliga club terminated after allegedly stealing four bottles of shampoo and damaging a dispenser in a Koln hotel room on December 10."The release is unjustified,” the player’s management told Bild.
"Abdessadki deplores Freiburg's actions and remains ready to serve the team in order to halt their decline."According to Abdessadki’s attorney, Dr Werner Schurig, the player simply wanted to take a shower, but found that the shampoo dispenser in his room was empty.
Consequently, he then went to the next room (that of Heiko Butscher and Jonathan Schmid) and got some from the dispenser there before (Garra) Dembele, the room-mate of Abdessadki, went to the lobby to ask for a couple bottles of shampoo.
Freiburg are claiming, though, that they were charged by the hotel for not replacing the shampoo dispensers, which were allegedly broken, and sporting director Dirk Dufner insists that the club had every right cancel Abdessadki's contract.
"Things happened which we can't let go with a professional player, who is supposed to function as a role model," Dufner said. "SC Freiburg will not tolerate such behaviour."Freiburg also announced they were releasing Butscher, Felix Bastians, Maximilian Nicu and Kisho Yano, but that this was for "purely sporting reasons".
Netzer hails Heynckes "masterstroke"
World Cup winner Gunter Netzer has praised Bayern Munich on their choice of Jupp Heynckes as coach, labelling the move a "masterstroke".
Breno allowed to travel to Qatar
Bayern Munich defender Breno has been given permission to travel with the club for their mid-season training camp in Qatar despite initially being told he could not leave the country.
Zwanziger to leave DFB post early
Dr Theo Zwanziger will step down as president of the German Football Association (DFB) on March 2 and not when his term is officially due to end in October.
Wolfsburg snap up Jiracek
Wolfsburg coach Felix Magath has made his first move in the transfer market with still a week to go before it officially opens by signing midfielder Petr Jiracek from Viktoria Plzen.
Alaba claims Austrian gong
Bayern Munich livewire David Alaba has capped off a sensational year by being crowned the 2011 Austrian Footballer of the Year.
Ribery hails Heynckes influence
Bayern Munich winger Franck Ribery reveals he is back to career-best form under coach Juup Heynckes, who took over at the club earlier in the summer.
Skibbe named as Hertha Berlin coach
Hertha Berlin on Thursday confirmed the appointment of Michael Skibbe as their new coach.
Jones in hot soup over Reus stamping
Schalke's Jermaine Jones is under investigation by the German football federation (DFB) for allegedly intentionally stepping on an opponent's injured foot.
Heynckes admits Bayern were lucky
Bayern Munich coach Jupp Heynckes admits his side were fortunate to beat VfL Bochum 2-1 in the DFB-Pokal on Tuesday.
Klopp proud of DFB-Pokal triumph
Borussia Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp admitted he was extremely proud of his players after Tuesday's penalty shootout win over Fortuna Dusseldorf in the DFB-Pokal.
Robben sorry for 'stupid' dive
Bayern Munich's Arjen Robben has apologised for diving to try to win a penalty in Tuesday night's DFB Pokal win over Bochum.
Mario Gomez: I'm in my prime
Bayern Munich goal poacher Mario Gomez has revealed that he now believes he is at the peak of his career.
Bayern, Stuttgart to meet in DFB-Pokal Bayern Munich and Stuttgart will lock horns in the quarter-finals of the DFB-Pokal after both sides were pitted against one another in Thursday's draw.
Bayern needed a last-minute goal from Arjen Robben to overcome VfL Bochum, after Toni Kroos had cancelled out Rodrigo's opener for the hosts.
Stuttgart on the other hand booked their spot in the quarters with a 2-1 win over Bundesliga rivals Hamburg, with Cacau's brace cancelling out William Kvist's own goal.
Both sides have met once this season on December, with Bayern coming out 2-1 victors thanks to a Mario Gomez double, after Christian Gentner had given Stuttgart a sixth-minute lead.
Defending Bundesliga champions Borussia Dortmund will once again come up against lower-division opposition, after being drawn against Holstein Kiel, who recorded an impressive 2-0 win over Mainz.
Dortmund needed penalties to see off the challenge of Fortuna Dusseldorf, after they played most of the game with ten men following the 30th-minute dismissal of Patrick Owomoyela.
In another all-Bundesliga encounter, high-flying Borussia Monchengladbach will travel to play Hertha Berlin.
Gladbach cruised past nine-man Schalke 3-1 on Wednesday evening, while Hertha saw off the challenge of Kaiserslautern.
Lastly, Hoffenheim will host Greuther Furth after both teams beat Augsburg and Nuremberg respectively.
The DFB-Pokal quarter-finals will take place on February 7 and 8.
DFB-Pokal Quarter-final Draw Hoffenheim vs Greuther Furth
Bundesliga club Stuttgart has officially made an offer to acquire Albirex Niigata defender Gotoku Sakai in the winter transfer window.
According to officials with knowledge of the deal, earlier this season the German club secretly dispatched Tomislav Maric, a player-turned-scout who once played in Japan for Urawa Reds, to Japan in order to observe the youngster.
Having given his seal of approval, Stuttgart entered negotiations with Sakai and Albirex and are presently hammering out details including a transfer fee, according to Sponichi.Born in New York City to a German mother and Japanese father, Sakai has emerged in the last two years as one of Japan's brightest prospects at left back.
The 20-year-old was a support member for Japan's 2010 World Cup squad, and has become a regular member of Japan's Under-23 team as they aim to qualify for next year's London Olympics.The move would allow the starlet to link with fellow countryman Shinji Okazaki, who moved to Stuttgart last winter from Shimizu S-Pulse.
Sakai has also been linked to other European clubs including Serie A's Cesena, who were responsible for bringing Samurai Blue star Yuto Nagatomo to Europe.
Real and Barca put on Gotze alert
Borussia Dortmund star Mario Gotze has given the club's fans little Christmas cheer by declaring his dream is to play in Spain's La Liga.
Tymoshchuk is Ukraine's best ever Bayern Munich defensive midfielder Anatoliy Tymoshchuk has been voted as the best ever footballer in the history of his native Ukraine.
Huntelaar cools United rumours
Schalke striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar has rubbished rumours linking him to Manchester United in view of his contract running out in 2013.
Hyypia: Blame players, not Dutt
Former Bayer Leverkusen defender Sami Hyypia says manager Robin Dutt should not be held responsible for his side's disappointing first half of the season.
Schweinsteiger against Reus move
Bayern Munich midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger has advised his club not to sign Marco Reus from Borussia Monchengladbach.
Rangnick on the road to recovery
Former Schalke coach Ralf Rangnick has spoken publicly for the first time since resigning from the Bundesliga club due to burn-out, insisting he is now feeling much better.
Schalke swoop for Chinedu Obasi
Schalke have signed Hoffenheim forward Chinedu Obasi on loan until the end of the season.
