Rummenigge reveals why Bayern missed out on Dembélé and Doué

When Bayern Munich face Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Tuesday, they will be up against two players they once targeted in the transfer market: Ousmane Dembélé and Désiré Doué.

The Bavarians showed serious interest in Dembélé as early as 2016, when he was still at Stade Rennes, but ultimately lost the race to Borussia Dortmund.

In an interview with t-online, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Bayern’s CEO at the time, reflects on why the club failed to bring the 2025 Ballon d’Or winner to the Allianz Arena.

“I was still CEO when we tried to sign Dembélé. We – and above all our sporting director at the time, Michael Reschke – wanted him very badly, but Dortmund got there first,” Rummenigge said.

“He played for Stade Rennes at the time. The club owners also owned Puma. Dortmund had a Puma kit deal, so they had an advantage. As an Adidas club, we were not preferred. He was a great talent, but as seen, he quickly left Dortmund for Barcelona. There’s no question he is a very good player, but he is also someone who needs guidance.”

Eight years later, in 2024, Bayern attempted to sign another highly-rated French talent, Désiré Doué, also from Stade Rennes, but PSG won the race. Rummenigge explains:

“We would have liked to sign him – he would have suited us very well. But he chose Paris because he wanted to stay in his French homeland. In the future, we will also miss out on players because more money may be paid elsewhere. You have to accept that, as it's part of the business. As you can see, both Paris and we can live very well with our situations.”