Bayern to tie up Toni transfer

Chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge announced today that FC Bayern München expect to unveil ACF Fiorentina and Italy striker Luca Toni on 8 June, the €11m transfer being the first of a series of big-money moves planned for the summer.

Hero status
Having finished fourth in the Bundesliga to miss out on UEFA Champions League football for the first time in eleven seasons, Bayern are determined to ensure a swift return to European football's top table and regain their German crown. Rummenigge confirmed a deal has been reached with Fiorentina, where Toni enjoys hero status after scoring 47 Serie A goals in two campaigns following a switch from US Città di Palermo. The 30-year-old forward said: "I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in Florence and am very grateful to the fans for the great time I had here."

Surgery
Viola president Andrea Della Valle added: "We wish Luca all the best and a successful future. We'll miss him and I'm sure he'll miss Florence. His going to Munich [instead of another Italian team] was his final service to the club and city of Florence." Toni is recovering from surgery on his injured left foot and will sit out Italy's UEFA EURO 2008™ qualifiers in the Faroe Islands and Lithuania on 2 and 6 June.