Munich - Bayern Munich president Franz Beckenbauer said uncertainty over midfielder Franck Ribery at the club will probably last until the transfer window closes at the end of August.

Criticizing "crazy" transfer payments, he told Saturday's Passauer Neue Presse daily he would have "a bad conscience" should Bayern obtain 80 million euros (111 million dollars) for Ribery, a sum the club would reportedly consider for the France international.

But the former playing great said he believed speculation over Ribery would continue until the end of August - well into the Bundesliga season which begins on August 7.

"Before the end of August there will not be a decision, then the transfer list closes," he said.

He added that Ribery "made the difference in his first year, but no longer in the second."

Ribery is wanted by Real Madrid and has also been linked with several other top European clubs including Chelsea.

Bayern have said officially that 26-year-old Ribery, who is under contract until 2011, is not for sale, but the record German champions are believed to be willing to consider an offer if high enough.

Ribery was absent with a knee injury as Bayern drew 0-0 in a friendly at Red Bull Salzburg on Friday evening. Coach Louis van Gaal said he could not comment on Ribery's future.

"In the world of football I can't say," he said.

Real Madrid, who have already splashed out around 210 million euros this summer on Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Karim Benzema and Raul Albiol, have approached Bayern on Ribery but have reportedly baulked at his price tag.

Beckenbauer, who is also on the executive committee of football's governing body FIFA, criticized the inflationary sums being paid in football.

"The sums being negotiated are crazy. But you will always find a lunatic throwing money around," he said.

He also called for action to rein in salaries but said he was "sceptical whether a salary cap would work." He suggested instead regulations restricting payments for players to be kept within 50 to 60 per cent of a club's income.

"I am convinced that something will happen soon. In the financial and economic crisis in which so many people are fearful for their jobs and their existence what is happening at the moment is madness," he said. (dpa)