Bayern Munich have made a habit of cherry picking some of Borussia Dortmund’s best players of the years and it’s proven to be an effective way to keep BVB in check since they won back to back titles in 2011 and 2012. But now, under new manager Thomas Tuchel, Dortmund have fought back to make the Bundesliga title race relatively interesting this season, which makes Bayern’s official interest in star defender Mats Hummels, who began his career with Bayern, rather interesting.

From the Guardian:

On Monday night the Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke said that “if Hummels leaves it will be to join Bayern Munich” and [Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz] Rummenigge, as Bayern were preparing to fly to Madrid for their Champions League semi-final against Atlético Madrid, said: “I can pretty much confirm what Mr Watzke said last night and that is that Mats is talking to Bayern.

“But these are talks between three parties and please understand that I cannot go into more detail at this moment. We have to respect that he is under contract at the moment [until 2017] and I don’t want to ruin the good relationship we have built up [with Dortmund] with some comments today.”

It’s unclear whether Rummenigge was able to say that without laughing. As with Mario Götze and Robert Lewandowski in previous years, this official announcement of interest/negotiations for a summer deal comes while the season is still in progress and is sure to distract from the remainder of Dortmund’s campaign.

If Dortmund continue to improve next season, Bayern might want to just buy in bulk and put in a bid for the whole club.