"[Landon Donovan] is an interesting player. But when you have [Mirolsav] Klose, [Luca] Toni and [Ivica] Olic already under contract, we think the fourth striker should really be a young player with prospects," said Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, downplaying Donovan's chances of an extended stay with the Germany club in Munich newspaper TZ on Tuesday.

Hamburg's Olic arrives next season while backup striker Lukas Podolski is returning to FC Cologne at the end of this season. Donovan, since joining Bayern on loan from the Los Angeles Galaxy, scored four friendly game goals but has been scoreless off the bench in three Bundesliga games and one German Cup game. He is scheduled to return to MLS in time for the 2009 season kickoff, but has stated repeatedly that he wants to remain at Bayern.

Meanwhile, German tabloid Bild reported that MLS is looking for a $10 million transfer fee and that the "wild card" player Donovan has yet to prove his worth being anything close to that.

Toni, whom Donovan replaced in the 35th minute of last Saturday's loss to Hertha Berlin, has an Achilles' injury. Either Donovan or Podolski is expected to start in Toni's place against Cologne next weekend. Read the original story...