Transfer sensation: Lizarazu back at Bayern
2005 is just five days old but the new year has already produced a transfer sensation at Bayern. World-class France and former Munich left-back Bixente Lizarazu is returning to Bavaria after just six months on the Mediterranean coast with Olympique Marseille.
"Now I really know I'm part of the Bayern family," the player said back in the summer after his last match for the club on 22 May 2004. He bade his farewells following a glorious seven-year stint in south Germany and appeared to be gone for good, until the dramatic about turn which sees the likeable Basque-born star make a swift return to the Säbener Strasse.
The World Cup, European Championship and Champions League-winning defender will join up with the Bayern squad on Thursday at their Dubai training camp, general manager Uli Hoeneß announced on Wednesday morning. Lizarazu arrives on a free transfer from Marseille, where he originally signed up for a two-year stint, and will initially be offered a deal until the end of this season at Bayern.
"Liza rang me over Christmas and told me he wasn't happy in Marseille," Hoeneß explained on his 53rd birthday. The official contacted the southern French club "and we worked it out from there," the Reds general manager reported.
Liza called time on his seven-year spell at Bayern last summer, ending up with UEFA Cup finalists Olympique. He held down a regular berth at the start of the campaign but fell out of favour after the arrival of Philippe Troussier as head coach. "I'm not sure whether I'm anywhere in Troussier's plans," he recently told French reporters.
The 35 year-old made 152 Bundesliga appearances for Bayern, scoring seven goals. The diminutive left-back arrived from Atlético Bilbao in 1997 and went on to claim all the honours the game has to offer: the World Club Cup, Champions League, four German championships and two German Cups with Bayern, and the 1998 World Cup and EURO 2000 with France.
Marseille failed to qualify for European competition this term so Liza is not cup-tied and is eligible to appear for the Reds in the Champions League as well as the Bundesliga and DFB Cup
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