Bayern and Klose head to Hong Kong for pre-season game

Bayern Munich's Miroslav Klose controls the ball during the club's first training session of the season. Bayern's star-studded squad gathered for pre-season training before heading for a lucrative friendly match in Hong Kong.

Bayern Munich's star-studded new squad gathered on Friday for their first day of pre-season training before the German giants head to Hong Kong for a lucrative friendly match.

German international striker Miroslav Klose, the top scorer at last year's World Cup, was the centre of attention as he donned the famous red and white jersey for the photographers and several thousand spectators after joining on a four-year deal from Werder Bremen.

Klose is the final piece in a 69-million-euro rebuilding programme for the 20-time German champions who are determined to bounce back after finishing fourth in the Bundesliga last season, their worst performance for more than a decade.

"I am very happy that we have got the second striker on our wish list," Bayern's general manager Uli Hoeness said at a press conference with Klose.

Klose, 29, said he had one aim at his new club after a move rumoured to be worth up to 15 million euros. "I have high expectations. I want to try to collect titles," he told journalists.

Despite being deprived of Champions League football next season, Bayern have also signed Italy's World Cup-winning striker Luca Toni from Fiorentina and splashed out 25 million euros on French midfielder Franck Ribery from Marseille.

Klose predicted he would form a deadly partnership with Toni.

"If we stay healthy and fit there won't be many who can contain us," he said.

Toni and Ribery will miss the trip to Asia, with the Italian recovering from foot surgery and the Frenchman only due to report for training on Wednesday. Veteran Brazilian midfielder Ze Roberto, who is returning to the club for a second spell, will also arrive next week.

Another new face, Argentinian midfielder Jose Ernesto Sosa, took part in Friday's training but two German signings, international duo Jan Schlaudraff and Marcell Jansen, only posed for photographs because of illness and injury.

Bayern coach Ottmar Hitzfeld said he was delighted with the club's new recruits, but stressed the hard work was just beginning to meld them into an effective unit.

"We have great individuals, but that does not mean that we go out there and play great football. It takes time to make a team," he said.

The Bayern squad was heading to Hong Kong later on Friday for a match against Brazilian club Sao Paulo on Sunday.