Bayern Munich’s long pursuit of ousmane dembélé came up again on Tuesday as the club prepared to face Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Bayern’s CEO at the time, said the club wanted the French forward badly in 2016 but lost out to Borussia Dortmund. He pointed to Dortmund’s advantage in the market at the time and said Bayern also later missed out on Désiré Doué in 2024.
Why Bayern missed ousmane dembélé
Rummenigge said Bayern were serious about signing ousmane dembélé when he was still at Stade Rennes. He said Michael Reschke, Bayern’s sporting director at the time, pushed strongly for the move, but Dortmund arrived first.
Rummenigge said Dortmund had an edge because of its Puma kit deal, while Bayern were an Adidas club and were not preferred in that situation. He added that dembélé was a strong talent, but also a player who needed guidance.
“We – and above all our sporting director at the time, Michael Reschke – wanted him very badly, but Dortmund got there first, ” Rummenigge said. He added that Dortmund’s deal gave them an advantage and that Bayern “were not preferred. ”
What changed with PSG and Doué
Eight years later, Bayern again found themselves watching a French target choose Paris. Rummenigge said the club would have liked to sign Doué in 2024, but the player wanted to stay in his French homeland and joined Paris instead.
That miss matters again now because Bayern and PSG are set to meet in the Champions League, putting two players once on Bayern’s transfer list back into the same spotlight. For Bayern, the story of ousmane dembélé is now tied not just to what happened in 2016, but also to how the club continues to lose out when competition, timing and player preference all move against them.
Rummenigge’s view on the market
Rummenigge framed both failed pursuits as part of football’s transfer business. He said Bayern will also miss out on players in future if more money is offered elsewhere, and said that must be accepted.
He also said both Paris and Bayern can live well with their situations. In his view, the outcome was shaped less by one isolated decision than by the reality of how modern transfers are won and lost.
What happens next
All eyes now turn to Tuesday’s Champions League meeting, where Bayern will face the club that signed Doué and features ousmane dembélé. The matchup gives fresh weight to Rummenigge’s remarks and revives a transfer story Bayern could not close when it mattered most. For Bayern, the wider lesson is clear: in elite recruitment, timing and leverage can matter as much as talent, and ousmane dembélé remains one of the clearest reminders of that.
