Bayern Munich wouldn’t accept record €200M fee for Michael Olise, says legend Rummenigge
Michael Olise has established himself as one of the most exciting talents in world soccer, reaching a level of world-class consistency during his time at Bayern Munich. While his breakthrough has inevitably attracted interest from other clubs, club legend and Supervisory Board member Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has made clear that Bayern would not part with the winger even for a record fee of €200 million.
Rummenigge served as Bayern‘s CEO from 2002 to 2021 and remains a key figure within the club’s structure under the leadership now overseen by Oliver Kahn. Under the current project with Vincent Kompany as head coach, Olise has emerged as an indispensable piece, currently standing as the most valuable player in the entire Bundesliga with a market value of €140 million according to Transfermarkt.
In a conversation with the portal t-online, Rummenigge was asked directly whether a €200 million offer would be enough to pry Olise away from Munich, and his answer left no room for ambiguity. “For a player like Olise, there is no price tag that would make us flinch,” he said.
To illustrate the principle at stake, Rummenigge reached back to one of Bayern’s most famous moments of resolve in the transfer market, drawing a parallel with another French winger. “In 2009, we had an incredible offer from Chelsea for Franck Ribéry. At the time, that would have been a new world transfer record. I went to our CFO at the time, Karl Hopfner, and Uli Hoeneß. We discussed what to do with this offer for two hours,” he recalled.
From that deliberation, Rummenigge said, came a guiding principle that has shaped the club’s transfer policy ever since. “On that day, we decided something fundamental: that in the future, we would no longer sell any player whose sporting presence we would miss. And this unwritten law still applies today,” he added.
According to Sport Bild, Olise has been linked with Real Madrid and Liverpool, the latter potentially looking for a successor to Mohamed Salah following his departure at the end of the 2025-26 season. With 20 goals and 29 assists across 47 appearances for Bayern, persuading either the club or the player to part ways would be an extraordinarily difficult task.
Bayern’s major business with Olise
It was Bayern Munich who ultimately won the race for Olise’s signature in the summer of 2024, fending off interest from clubs including Manchester United to bring the winger to Germany. The Bavarian side paid Crystal Palace €53 million for a player contracted through June 2029, and in less than two years, that investment has ballooned in value.
According to Transfermarkt, Olise’s current market value stands at €140 million, nearly three times the €55 million fee at which he departed Palace. Furthermore, should any club meet the €200 million threshold Rummenigge dismissed, Olise would become the second most expensive transfer in soccer history, overtaking Kylian Mbappe at €180 million and Ousmane Dembele at €148 million, with only Neymar’s record fee of €222 million remaining beyond reach.