Sports / Soccer |
Makaay leaves Bayern Munich for Feyenoord(Reuters)Updated: 2007-06-29 09:17 BERLIN, June 28 - Roy Makaay has left Bayern Munich and will return home to the Netherlands to play for Feyenoord, the Bundesliga club said on Thursday. The Dutch striker, bought for a then-club record 18.75 million euros ($25.2 million) in 2003, was released early from his contract and signed a three-year deal with Feyenoord, Bayern said on its web site at www.fcbayern.de. He last played for a Dutch club a decade ago when he left his first club Vitesse Arnhem for Spain, first with Tenerife then Deportivo. "I had many good and interesting offers but I decided to return to Holland," Makaay told Bayern's web site. "I am looking forward to the new challenge in Rotterdam and hope to help Feyenoord reconnect to their successful past." The 32-year-old, known in Germany as the "goal phantom", joined Bayern from Deportivo four years ago and won the Bundesliga title and the German Cup twice each. He was the top scorer in Europe in 2002-03, netting 29 goals. Makaay played 178 times for Bayern, scoring 102 goals, including 78 goals in 129 Bundesliga matches -- giving him the second-best strike ratio in Bayern's history after Gerd Mueller. The Dutchman's departure comes after Bayern signed strikers Miroslav Klose from Werder Bremen and Luca Toni from Fiorentina as part of a 70.0 million euro spending spree. Feyenoord earlier this month named Bert van Marwijk as coach and the club signed Barcelona fullback Giovanni van Bronckhorst on Wednesday. Makaay, who scored the fastest-ever Champions League goal in March, finding the net after 10.2 seconds against Real Madrid, passed a medical on Thursday, Bayern said.
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