Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn, who "has interests in VW-owned Wolfsburg," said that Bundesliga clubs, including reigning champion Bayern Munich, "have been powerless to compete with the Premier League," according to Stephan Uersfeld of ESPN. Winterkorn has been CEO at the German car manufacturer since '07 and also has a seat on Bayern's supervisory board. This weekend, Wolfsburg midfielder Kevin De Bruyne joined Man City for around €75M ($84.2M), reportedly earning him up to €20M ($22.5M) per year, and Winterkorn insists that the Premier League "can have their pick of players from Germany because of the money involved." Winterkorn: "There comes a time when you are just powerless. Even FC Bayern, who were interested, at the end of the day said, 'We can't compete against those sums.'" Bayern Munich Sports Dir Matthias Sammer said, "We receive all the money. Is it that bad?" Sammer said that the question now is to make use of the money "strategically," and strengthen the clubs' academies, while he added that Germany should be happy that its players are "attracting interest." Sammer: "I can remember that there were quite a few moaning about not earning enough. Really, we always complain" (ESPN, 8/31).
