Much of the past week has seen reports in the press of Michael Ballack’s dispute with the management of his national side and his subsequent apology following a particularly public outburst.

The latest update on this is that despite Chelsea apparently refusing the injured player permission to travel to Germany for a showdown with Germany coach Joachim Low, a meeting has indeed taken place in Frankfurt. However, for some reason or other, even though the matter of Ballack’s indiscretion has now been discussed, the German Football Federation have decided to withhold any details of the outcome until today.  

So, could it be that this reluctance to disclose information has anything to do with another ‘story’ coming out of Germany yesterday? Because, according to one Munich newspaper, Michael Ballack is set to stand down as Germany captain. Abendzeitung reports that the 32 year old Chelsea midfielder has agreed to hand over his captaincy to Philipp Lahm in a compromise that allows him to continue playing for his national side.

As is often the case though, there seemed to be the usual lack of ‘reliable sources’, so I guess we’ll await the imminent announcement…..

Filed under: Current Players, Rants