Hoeneß clarifies controversial comments on Jackson loan deal | OneFootball

Bayern Munich supervisory board member Uli Hoeneß has defended himself after facing criticism for an open-mouthed interview on the Sport1 TV program Doppelpass on Sunday.

Hoeneß drew attention with comments that Bayern’s purchase option for Chelsea loanee Nicolas Jackson would only be activated if the striker starts 40 games, and that the player and his agent covered €3 million of the €16.5 million loan fee.

While some interpreted Hoeneß’ remarks in the interview as indirect criticism of board member for sport Max Eberl, the 73-year-old insists he was trying to support him.

“Everything I said was meant to help him. What annoyed me a lot is the stupidity of some journalists. They interpreted my words as if I had something against Jackson,” Hoeneß told Sky Germany (via @iMianSanMia).

“They 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 African Cup in January, so he can't start 40 games, that's what I said.

“What I wanted was to help Max, because he was accused of granting this option (an obligation to buy, editor's note). 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 €13.5m. Those are positive things. Apparently I'm Max's biggest defender. Maybe he could have said that himself – if he did, he wouldn't have been criticised for days.”