Bayern Munich CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has insisted his club never considered selling star attacker Thomas Muller to Manchester United this summer, and revealed he told United chiefs to stop trying.
The Old Trafford club had a "very high" offer rejected by the German club for the World Cup and Champions league winner in September. Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Rummenigge reiterated his stance that 26-year-old wasn't for sale, no matter the price.
"I am not a banker. We are a football club," Rummenigge said after Bayern's 5-1 defeat of Dortmund, in which Muller scored twice. "That is why we never even considered selling Thomas Muller.
"I told my colleagues at Manchester United: 'I cannot close down my email account, but you no longer need to send me anything. It is useless.'"
Reports have placed United's previous bids for the influential German as high as €85 million. Like he did on Sunday, Rummenigge stood firm in asserting a move was out of the question, saying at the time: "He's under contract for another four years. He'll stay -- no matter what is offered. There is no price I would even start considering it.
"Thomas is a special character, different to all others we have seen at this club before, on and off the pitch. There are players who are technically better, and there are players who are faster, but there is no second Thomas Muller on this planet. He's extremely important for us. He embodies 'Mia San Mia' [Bayern's motto of 'We are who we are']."
The Premier League's wealth allows its clubs to pay more for players, which has been seen especially in the transfer fees for Raheem Sterling, Kevin De Bruyne and Anthony Martial this summer. For Muller, the amounts paid are to be expected, given their financial standing in the game.
"Transfer fees don't show which player is better," he said last week. "It's only a number necessary for a club to get a player. It's just a development.
"When a club has €200m left on its transfer budget in the final days of the transfer period, why shouldn't they make a higher bid when their initial €70m bid has been rejected? I don't think we need to worry about it. Football is a sport with huge potential."