Sterling Pursuit Shows Bayern Munich Have a €24 Million Problem in Ribery

Approximately two years ago, Franck Ribery was at the height of his career. The Frenchman was in the form of his life and approaching the end of a season that would nearly win him the Ballon d'Or. In May of 2013, his heroic performances helped Bayern Munich to the treble, with the mercurial winger playing a vital role in both his team's goals as they edged Dortmund in the Champions League final.

Ribery, who at the time was under contract until 2015, was then handed a two-year extension that, per Sport Bild's Christian Falk and Tobias Altschaff (in German), would see him earn €12 million per year until the end of the 2016-17 campaign.

There's no denying that Ribery was, in 2013, worth his wage. He was 30 years old at the time and still in the prime of his career. And he'd certainly earned a good salary. However, to commit to paying him so handsomely until after his 34th birthday raised a skeptical brow from this writer.

And when Bayern opted to play hardball with Toni Kroos as the midfielder entered his prime, eventually refusing to meet his wage demands (well under those of Ribery, according to Bundesliga expert Raphael Honigstein), this author wrote that the policy of giving the aging Frenchman a bumper contract while denying Kroos in his prime was a mistake.

Two years later, the Ribery we occasionally see on the pitch is very different from the one to whom Bayern committed €48 million in wages from age 30 to 34. It's uncertain whether he still has the ability to influence games at the very highest level (not just the average Bundesliga fixture), and he's spent most of the current campaign sidelined with various injuries. And now, according to Bild's Kai Psotta, the Bavarians are looking to replace him this summer, with Raheem Sterling lined up as a possible signing.

It remains to be seen whether Sterling will indeed join Bayern, as there will certainly be competition for his signature, and Liverpool could yet hold him to his contract. But Bayern's pursuit of a replacement for Ribery is no surprise. At this point, he can't be relied upon as he once was.

According to Transfermarkt, the French winger made just 23 appearances during his injury-blighted 2014-15 season, tallying 1,501 minutes (about an hour per game). Being fair to him, Ribery played quite well when fit. However, he rarely was fit.

Some may say that in 2013 his decline could not be predicted, that injuries cannot be foreseen. Yet in the case of a player in his 30s, that is simply false.

Footballers in their latter years are far more injury-prone than their younger counterparts, as a study by a collaboration of Norwegian and Icelandic researchers found. And as this presentation from University of British Columbia Professor Chris McNeil explains, neuromuscular velocity and muscular strength on average begin to decline when an athlete reaches his 30s.

It's for these reasons that many top clubs have a policy of only offering one-year extensions to players on the wrong side of 30 years of age.

It was kind of Bayern to offer Ribery such high wages, but not the best business. His previous contract was set to expire this summer, the time at which the club have apparently decided it best to move him along. A more financially prudent decision would have been to hold him to his previous deal and wait until last fall or even this spring to negotiate a new contract, when Ribery's value would have been lower.

It would have saved the club a considerable amount of money in wages if they reached an agreement to extend for one or even two years, and it also would have left the option open for him leaving the club if need be.

Tim Ireland/Associated Press

At the moment, Bayern are stuck between a rock and a hard place with Ribery. They tried to slowly integrate young players to eventually replace him, but Xherdan Shaqiri failed and was sold to Inter, and Mario Gotze has inspired precious little confidence. A big name is probably the only option at this point, with Ribery now an injury-prone 32-year-old and Bayern desperate to return to the Champions League final during Pep Guardiola's tenure.

Ribery may well have something left to offer, but to rely on the Frenchman would be a very risky gamble. And as sporting director Matthias Sammer recently told BT Sport (h/t ESPN), Bayern will be looking to replace their aging stars sooner rather than later. The idea of a gradual phasing in of anything other than a big-ticket player is becoming increasingly unlikely.

Yet, if Bayern bring in another player to replace Ribery immediately, they'll have a €24 million problem on the bench, an absurd wage to pay a substitute over two years. Moreover, that wage will decrease their spending power on a new star. Ribery's wages could be the difference between Bayern being able to afford a player like Sterling or a more expensive option like Kevin De Bruyne.

A solution, of course, would be to sell Ribery, but his wages make him very difficult to offload. Actually, his transfer value may be nowhere near the €24 million he's owed between this July and the end of his contract. Real Madrid had a similar problem in 2010, and ended up letting Raul join Schalke on a free transfer while also paying €2 million of his wages per year that he had remaining on his previous contract with Los Blancos, as reported by Kit Holden in the Independent.

Bayern may be forced to take a similar approach with Ribery if they indeed sell him. Without some sort of charity from the player, the German giants could be forced to let him go for free or even pay part of his wages.

All this could have been avoided had Bayern been a little more patient and a little more cutthroat in their business. What they did was generous to a club hero but could cost the association overall in the long run, with the development of Shaqiri and Gotze having apparently failed and left the club desperate for an expensive star.

Bayern will play it cool this summer, but behind closed doors, they face a real challenge in squad building, with appropriate options in the transfer market rather scarce. The club's decisions in the coming months, particularly surrounding Ribery and his replacement, will undoubtedly play a huge role in shaping their long-term future.

@Mr_Bundesliga