IRNA - Bundesliga club VfL Wolfsburg denied
Thursday a report on the web site of the daily Bild which said that Bayern
Munich reserve midfielder Ali Karimi and his Paraguayan Julio dos Santos
teammate are set to be loaned to the north German team during the winter
break.
Wolfsburg's managing director, Klaus Fuchs confirmed while he is interested
in signing dos Santos, Karimi is not one of his transfer targets.
Both players have been languishing on the Bayern bench for weeks and have
been rarely used by coach Felix Magath.
Bayern Munich's powerful President Franz Beckenbauer expressed earlier
strong doubts as to whether the 28-year-old Karimi and 23-year-old dos
Santos will have a future at the German Bundesliga record champs beyond this
season.
Asked in a recent interview with the renowned kicker sports magazine whether
Karimi and dos Santos will ever make it at Bayern, Beckenbauer replied, "It
will be hard for them."
Pointing to Karimi's playing career in the United Arab Emirates prior to his
signing at Bayern, Beckenbauer pointed out that the slow-paced Arab football
style made it difficult for Karimi to earn a permanent berth in the squad's
starting formation.
The German media reported earlier that Bayern won't extend Karimi's contract
after the end of this Bundesliga season.
Bayern coach Magath who had great hopes for Karimi when he signed him in
2005, has been frustrated by the Iranian player's apparent unwillingness to
learn the German language in a bid to be able to adjust better within the
team.
