“Theme for the summer break”
That’s why the love for a journalist remained secret for so long
June 22, 2026 – 10:28 amReading time: 3 minutes
When the new relationship became public, support and clear statements followed in the Bavarian environment. Why the timing wasn’t a coincidence.
Every year in the summer, the arrivals and departures in the football world come to the fore – at least actually. The FC Bayern lost in 2023 Robert Lewandowski his goalscorer to the FC Barcelonaat the same time equipped his squad for around 130 million with young stars like Mathy’s phone and Matthijs de Ligt and world star Sadio Mane on. Three years ago this summer, however, the professionals took a back seat and suddenly only the private life of the then Bayern coach was in focus.
“Julian Nagelsmann loves Bild reporter,” wrote the “Bild” newspaper on June 30, 2023. After his separation from wife Verena, with whom Nagelsmann was together for 15 years and has two children together, he is now together with Lena Wurzenberger. There was great excitement: the then 30-year-old had accompanied FC Bayern as a reporter in recent years.
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Wurzenberger was released from reporting on the Munich team by the newspaper, Nagelsmann, who was released in 2021 RB Leipzig After moving to Munich, Bayern again gave him support. “I think he can separate them well,” said the then sports director Hasan Salihamidžić. The club had probably known for a long time that the current national coach was in a new relationship.
Months of secrecy
“This was known among Munich journalists almost six months in advance,” explains t-online reporter Julian Buhl in the t-online podcast “Julian Nagelsmann – The Youngest One”. “It was agreed at FC Bayern to postpone this topic until the summer break.” The plan worked. Communications expert Holger Schmidt was not surprised by the secrecy. “I think it’s normal that once you reach a certain level of fame, a new love is kept secret,” he says in the t-online podcast.
The couple first has to see whether they have a future. In the case of Nagelsmann and Wurzenberger, he is in the public eye as Munich’s head coach and she was under pressure “because Lena couldn’t just continue to be a Bayern reporter,” said Schmidt. And how does the communications expert assess the interaction? “I didn’t think it was a bad solution.” Nagelsmann “simply told it relatively quickly and tried to put a stop to it.”
