Bayern to make Ribery clubs highest ever earner: report

BERLIN (AFP) Bayern Munich playmaker Franck Ribery will sign a three-year contract extension that will make him the clubs highest ever earner and keep him with the German champions until 2015, it was reported Friday. Bild tabloid daily said Ribery, who has endured arguably one of his toughest seasons both on and off the pitch, would on Saturday sign a deal worth 10 million euros annully. Although he still has a year left on his current contract the paper said Riberys new deal would begin on July 1, 2010. If confirmed it would make him the clubs highest ever earner - and would be good news for both club and 27-year-old Ribery, who moved to Bayern from Marseille in 2007. Bayern began the season warding off the attentions of European giants like Real Madrid, who were looking to sign Ribery. The French international then suffered a series of injuries that scuppered his season, and last month he hit the headlines after being implicated in a scandal involving an underage escort girl. The affair reportedly turned Real Madrid off Riberys scent. On-field frustrations, in the shape of a three-game UEFA ban for a nasty tackle during the Champions League semi-final against Lyon which will keep Ribery out of Saturdays final against Inter Milan soon followed. Ribery, however, will be in Madrid Saturday to sign his contract extension with Bayern, according to Bild which cited reliable French sources. Representatives for Ribery and Bayern reportedly met Thursday at the Madrid hotel where Bayern Munich are staying prior to the final. Ribery said recently he wanted to sort his club future out before the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, which begins on June 11. And Bayern have been making special efforts in recent weeks to keep Ribery at the club, where in spite of his difficult season he is largely adored by fans.

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