Munich, July 13 (DPA) Brazil captain Lucio will be allowed to leave Bayern Munich if he wants, Kicker sports magazine reported Monday quoting club general manager Uli Hoeness.
“What happens next is up to him. If he comes to us and says he wants to go here or there we will consider the matter,” Hoeness is quoted as saying.
Lucio, who is under contract for another season at Bayern, has said he was ready to leave Bayern after reports that new coach Louis van Gaal is not planning with him.
However Hoeness said there had never been any statements from the club about the central defender.
Last week Britain’s Sky Sports said Lucio was on the verge of signing for Manchester City. But Kicker said Lucio had so far received no offers from top European clubs.
Meanwhile, Bayern’s Italy striker Luca Toni has said he would not accept a place on the substitutes’ bench at the club.
“In 15 years I never belonged to the reserve players and I don’t see myself now on the bench,” he told Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport.
Toni will be contesting a place in the team with Germany strikers Miroslav Klose and Mario Gomez, a Bundesliga record 30-million-euro (41.8 million dollars) signing from VfB Stuttgart.
But Toni, Bayern’s top scorer in his two seasons at the club, said he was giving no thought to leaving the club, only “to prove that I belong in my position.”
The 32-year-old striker was the Bundesliga’s top scorer with 21 goals in the 2007/2008 season, but his form seemed to dip last season when he scored 12.
He has also come in for criticism for his recent performances with Italy who were eliminated at the group stage of last month’s Confederations Cup.
“I know that I can score goals as always. The goals will speak for themselves,” he said.
rounak