FC Bayern Munich confirmed yesterday that club veteran Franck Ribery will extend his contract at the Allianz Arena by another year, meaning he will be with the Bavarian club till June of 2018.
The news will come as a delight to the Bayern hierachy as well as the youngsters at the club. Ribery's experience at the top level and his individual abilities make him an asset to have at the club and the Frenchman has expressed his delight at signing the extension.
Ribery looking forward to many more beautiful moments
Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rumenigge highlighted Ribery's importance to all of the club's recent successes, "Six German championship titles, five cup triumphs, the Champions League, the FIFA Club World Cup, the UEFA Supercup: FC Bayern's biggest triumphs in the last few years are closely linked with Franck Ribéry," ,he said. He also praised Ribery's ability as a "key player" and a "crowd-pleaser" for Bayern and expressed the club's delight at Ribery's decision.
Ribery then spoke about how Bayern and the city of Munich have both become his "home", in terms of "sport and in private". The Frenchman has been a pivotal cog in all of Bayern's successes at Domestic as well as European level.
He then expressed how he is "looking forward to many more beautiful moments" with the club and its fans in the coming years and how he hopes to "play his part" in Bayern's successes in the next one and a half years.
Ribery's stay can help the likes of Coman and Sanches
The Frenchman has some very impressive numbers for Bayern since the 2007/08 season. He's made 333 appearances for the club, scoring 108 goals and assisting 164 times.
Ribery was a star player in Bayern's treble of 2013, setting up Arjen Robben for the winner at Wembley in the Champions League final and was voted the European player of the year.
At the age of 33, Ribery is nearing the end of his best and he must use his experience to hone the youngsters at the club who have so much to learn from his abilities, his committment to the club and his work-rate.
The likes of Kingsley Coman and Renato Sanches who are first-team youngsters are certainly stars for the future and will certainly be delighted by Ribery's decision to stay alongside them till 2018.