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Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has revealed Bayern Munich's newest signing Leon Goretzka would probably have moved to Barcelona had he not agreed a deal with the Bundesliga champions. Goretzka, 22, will join Bayern on a five-year deal from Schalke in the summer. CEO Rummenigge wrote in the club magazine before this weekend's Bundesliga home game against Hoffenheim: "If we had not signed Leon Goretzka, there's a high probability he would have moved to Barcelona. "Fundamentally, that cannot be in the interests of German football." Rummenigge added: "Only 22, Leon Goretzka is an enormously talented German international with great potential in his position. We would have been really crazy not to try and sign him." Out of contract at the end of June, Goretzka will join on a free transfer, with Bayern winning the race for the highly-coveted midfielder following reported interest from Europe's top clubs, including Barcelona, Real Madrid, Manchester United and Liverpool. Bayern have already ruled out bringing the Goretzka deal forward after Schalke hinted at the weekend that they would be willing to allow the Germany international to leave immediately. Meanwhile, Schalke CEO Christian Heidel has hit back at comments made by Oliver Bierhoff. In an interview with Bild this week, Germany national team manager Bierhoff backed Goretzka's decision to join Bayern and said "an ambitious young international wants to win titles and does not like to sit on the couch on Wednesdays when others are playing in the Champions League." On Thursday, Heidel told a news conference he was "far from pleased" with the comments and said: "Germany's general manager must be impartial. "That [what Bierhoff said] would mean a Germany international must join Bayern because they are the only club with a guarantee [for the Champions League). "People might make those comments, but not the general manager of the national team. "Every club can be proud to have a national team player in their ranks, and if you need to be worried about those comments coming from the national team and the player starts thinking about his future, overall I think that's bad for football." Later on Thursday, Bierhoff told Funke Media: "Heidel's statement implies that I don't trust Schalke to reach Champions League. "That was not my intention. Schalke do a super job. But the past has shown that Bayern not only reach the Champions League, but also make a deep run. "At Bayern a player always has the biggest chances in the Champions League." Information from ESPN FC's Germany correspondent Stephan Uersfeld was used in this report.
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