Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has accused English clubs of effectively “kidnapping” young players from overseas.

Bayern are due to open the doors on a new youth academy in the north of Munich in the summer, and Rummenigge has declared he would have “moral reservations” about filling it with pre-teens from other countries.

“We don’t want to bring some 10- or 11-year-old to Munich like the English do,” he said in comments published in the club’s magazine, yesterday.

“You could almost speak of kidnapping with them and I would have moral reservations about that.”

Rummenigge still hopes to lure the best local talent to the record Germany champions, from the age of 14 upwards, with the focus on youngsters in and around Bavaria.

“Our priority at Bayern Munich will certainly be Germany and Bavaria,” he told reporters when asked about the project.

“Our future talented players will much rather come from Rosenheim than Rio.”

Bayern Munich have enjoyed a great deal of success in recent years on the football field with a blend of big-name signings and home-grown talent leading the side to various honours.

Philipp Lahm, Thomas Mueller and Bastian Schweinsteiger all hail from Bavaria and have graduated into key first-team players.

Rummenigge said he hopes the new football academy will ensure that local talent continues to prosper after suggesting that Bayern Munich had “lost a bit of ground, nationally and internationally” in that particular area.