Bayern Munich’s honorary president Uli Hoeneß has insisted he did not disrespect Chelsea loanee Nicolas Jackson with his revelation of the terms of the striker’s contract.
Jackson joined Bayern late in the summer window on a loan deal which includes a conditional obligation to make the move permanent. Hoeneß recently revealed the clause will only be triggered if the Senegal international starts 40 games but faced criticism as he laughed “he’ll never do that.”
While many interpreted Hoeneß’s words as a lack of faith in a player who has not even played for the club at this point, Bayern’s influential figurehead argued he was simply highlighting the mathematical evidence that suggests a permanent transfer will not be triggered.
“What annoyed me a lot is the stupidity of some journalists,” Hoeneß told Sky Sports Germany. “They interpreted my words as if I had something against Jackson.
“These [journalists] didn’t pay attention in maths because I said he won’t play 40 games from the start. We still have 32 Bundesliga games. If we reach the Champions League final, which we hope we will, that adds 13 games. The total is 45 games. The DFB Pokal games do not count. So he would have to start all these games.
“He will go to the Africa Cup of Nations in January, so he can’t start 40 games, that’s what I said. What I wanted was to help Max [Eberl, sporting director], because he was accused of granting this [obligation to buy].
“The same goes for the fact that the player and his agent contributed to the deal. That’s something positive, because it took the loan fee down to €13.5 million. Those are positive things.”
The Africa Cup of Nations runs from Dec. 21 to Jan. 18—a period which covers three Bundesliga games for Bayern, not including a fixture currently scheduled for Dec. 20. Vincent Kompany’s side are back in Champions League action on Jan. 21.
As Eberl points out, Jackson could miss as many as five games if Senegal enjoy a deep run at the Africa Cup of Nations, meaning the striker may have to start every single match for Bayern to even have a chance of triggering a €65 million (£56.2 million, $76.1 million) permanent departure from Chelsea.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as ‘Pay Attention’—Bayern Munich Chief Clarifies Terms of Nicolas Jackson Deal.