I declared RoM on the Franck Ribery bandwagon last week, but who the fans are interested in signing matters little if Sir Alex Ferguson doesn’t fancy them at the club.

Fortunately, it appears as though United are keen to sign Ribery, although unfortunately, we’re not the only ones, with Real Madrid, Chelsea and Barcelona all trying to get in on the action, and Bayern Munich are playing hard ball.

“We are completely relaxed and very proud that we have one of the best three players in the world under contract and that he has triggered such a huge demand in the transfer market,” said Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. “Real have asked in person, through their president, Florentino Perez, and his adviser, Pedro Jimenez, whether we will talk to them about a deal. We have rejected that request, because we have no intention of selling Ribery.”

Rummenigge confirmed that Real Madrid have not put in a bid, although one can only imagine how much they would be prepared to pay, but other clubs have.

“There are clubs that have come to us with offers,” he continued. “Chelsea’s bid has already been reported, and there’s also Manchester United and Barcelona. We are approaching it calmly, because we are the ones who have the power to make the decision. I don’t want to talk about sums of money because it is not in our interest. The amount is irrelevant. There is always going to be the perception that Bayern Munich are trying to push the price up and that there is a certain value at which we’ll have to accept, but I’ll say it again: we want to keep Ribery. We must do everything to make sure he stays in Munich and I am determined to do this. A player has to respect his contract, in this case until 2011.”