Magath: "Clubs wanted to exploit our alleged financial difficulties"
31.08.2009
Two days after the 1-0 defeat to SC Freiburg the focus is not on footballing matters for once. This is because the transfer period ends at midnight tonight (31.8). Head coach Felix Magath spoke to schalke04.de about the recent speculation.
In the last few days there has been a lot of speculation about Rafinha. On Monday he was missing from training. What was the reason?
I've given Rafinha a few days off. Too much fuss has been made about him just recently. He needs to come to terms with it all and so we've agreed to give him some time off. That's the best for everyone concerned. Then I'm sure we'll see the Rafinha who's given us so much pleasure in the past.
So is Rafinha staying at Schalke?
I can rule out a transfer during this transfer period.
Have you had any offers for him?
All we had was a few enquiries from clubs who wanted to exploit our alleged financial difficulties. Some things were a bit dubious, but there was nothing we could have looked into. If we had agreed to a transfer, we would only have done so if the terms had been acceptable. We aren't in a position where we have to sell players no matter what the price.
During the Freiburg match an unfounded story did the rounds that Rafinha was going to Bayern Munich. In the second half he was greeted by a chorus of whistles from some fans whenever he touched the ball.
The fans know that in football players sometimes have to or choose to move to another club. If a player has the opportunity to improve in footballing terms, he has the right to look into a move. Schalke 04 aren't the only club affected by this. Bayern Munich have experienced the same with Franck Ribery. It's perfectly possible for a player to feel at ease at his current club and continue to give 100 percent. That's the professional way to behave and that has been and is the case with Rafinha.
A quick word on Jermaine Jones, who VfB Stuttgart are said to be interested in.
We won't be letting Jermaine Jones go either. It doesn't look as if anything will happen for us on the transfer market. So as things stand there won't be any changes.
