Bayern Munich’s chairman Uli Hoeness has commented on media reports claiming that Russian gas giant Gazprom is close to signing a sponsorship deal with Germany’s biggest football club.

­“We had a very pleasant conversation over lunch with Alexey Miller,” Uli Hoeness told Sport-Express newspaper. “The head of Gazprom arrived for to negotiations on gas with the government of Bavaria.  He also contacted us and we arranged a meeting. Both sides were completely open with each other and agreed that we have a great interest in cooperation. We plan to hold more talks like this in the future.”

But the 60-year-old stressed that the possibility of Gazprom becoming Bayern’s general sponsor “hasn’t even been discussed”.

The company recently prolonged its deal with another Bundesliga side – Schalke 04 – until 2017.

And, under German law, the same enterprise can’t provide financial support for two or more clubs in the same competition.   

“I just want to emphasize that we don’t want to replace Schalke, who have Gazprom as their main sponsor,” he said. “But I think some form of cooperation is still possible.”

The company sponsors a number of teams across a range of sports in Russia and abroad, with Russian football champions Zenit Saint Petersburg among the beneficiaries.