First Every Player Was For Sale Now No Players Are For Sale:

First David Villa was taken off the market by Valencia, now it is Ribery being taken off the market by Bayern:

Franz Beckenbauer:

''Franck Ribery is irreplaceable,'' he told L'Equipe. ''Real Madrid know our position: he is not for sale. That Franck wants to go to Real is not a surprise. It's a fascinating club and attractive on a financial level.

''But Bayern are not a bad club either. At our club the doors are solid and very resistant and we're not going to push up the bidding.

''Ribery figures among the best players of the world. And when you have a player of this quality among the squad you don't separate.

''We want to build around this player who (Bayern coach) Louis van Gaal absolutely wants under his command.'' (Source)

Here is where Ribery stands in Bestplayerintheworld.com rankings at 1pm Eastern Standard Time on Friday June 26, 2009:

Lionel Messi 46% (985 votes)
Cristiano Ronaldo 22% (475 votes)
Steven Gerrard 7% (152 votes)
Andres Iniesta 4% (81 votes)
Fernando Torres 3% (62 votes)
Zlatan Ibrahimovic 2% (49 votes)
Kaka 2% (46 votes)
Frank Lampard 2% (39 votes)
Wayne Rooney 1% (29 votes)
Ronaldinho 1% (29 votes)
Andrei Arshavin 1% (23 votes)
Nemanja Vidic 1% (17 votes)
Franck Ribery 1% (16 votes)
Luka Modric 1% (16 votes)
Xavi Hernandez 1% (16 votes)
Robinho 1% (15 votes)
Didier Drogba 1% (14 votes)
Cesc Fabregas 1% (13 votes)
Samuel Eto'o 1% (12 votes)
David Villa 1% (11 votes)
Iker Casillas 1% (11 votes)
Arjen Robben <1% (9 votes)
Ashley Young <1% (8 votes)
Petr Cech <1% (7 votes)
Emmanuel Adebayor <1% (5 votes)
Gianluigi Buffon <1% (6 votes)
Sergio (Kun) Aguero <1% (5 votes)

Total Votes: 2151

Vote for Ribery or your best player at Bestplayerintheworld.com.

Beckenbauer Says Ribery Is Equal To Messi and Ronaldo. Do You Agree? Vote At Bestplayerintheworld.com:

Beckenbauer is either trying to keep Ribery at Bayern or trying to improve his team's negotiating position through the media:

"I can see only two solutions: Ribery extends his contract so the issue is dealt with or we release him,'' he said.

"I rate Ribery alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and (Lionel) Messi as the best footballers in the world at present,'' he added in the Bild newspaper. (Source)

You'll recall that recently Bayern's manager Uli Hoeness claimed that one of Ribery's legs alone was worth 50 million Euros.

Zidane Prefers Fabulous Franck Ribery To Cristiano Ronaldo:

“Cristiano [Ronaldo] is a great player, of course, because he was chosen for the Golden Ball and could achieve it again this year. "He is a formidable player, but if you ask me who I prefer, it is very clear; [Franck] Ribery.” (Source)

Abidal Says Ribery is as Good as Messi

“He’s a player who’s at the same level as Messi, Henry and Eto’o… a player who can easily make a difference."

> Info Source