The change in leadership at the highest level at FC Bayern is approaching. And with it the withdrawal of Rummenigge and Hoeneß. His desired successor is ready.
The fact that FC Bayern is currently continuing to intensively restructure its management team is entirely in keeping with Uli Hoeneß. He hasn’t revealed exactly how the club patron envisions the new leadership of FC Bayern, at least publicly, but he has already set a schedule.
Shortly before Christmas, the 72-year-old hinted at a farewell during his appearance on “Sport und Talk im Hangar 7” on the Austrian Servus TV. “As soon as we have the feeling that FC Bayern is back in calm waters,” he explained when asked when he and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (68) plan to hand over the management of the record champions to their successors again.
And Hoeneß also provided a fairly specific schedule for this. “I think it will be ready in the first half of the new year.” It’s quite possible that at that moment he was thinking of Max Eberl, who was unexpectedly dismissed as sports director at RB Leipzig at the end of September.
Hoeneß finally gets his dream successor
The 50-year-old has been considered Hoeneß’ personal preferred successor for many years. After Hoeneß’ last plan with Oliver Kahn as CEO and Hasan Salihamidžić as sports director failed and both were fired last summer, Eberl could actually soon become one.
His commitment as the new sports director is expected after the next FC Bayern supervisory board meeting at the end of February. For this, the Munich team would probably have to pay a transfer fee of around five million euros to Leipzig. In response to the question of why Bayern haven’t done this long ago, one word can still be heard frequently around Munich: “decency distance.”
However, it has long and increasingly been observed that major events cast their shadows. The distances between Bayern and Eberl, who once played for the record champions and still owns an apartment in the English Garden, are short. Especially with Hoeneß, who is a kind of mentor for him, contact has never been broken. In the past, Eberl repeatedly visited the honorary president at home in Bad Wiessee am Tegernsee. Conveniently, Eberl often stays nearby with his partner Natascha Fruscella near Rottach-Egern.
With Neppe’s departure, Eberl’s arrival is looming
And so, according to “Bild” and Sky, the departure of technical director Marco Neppe is no longer a surprise. The reports coincide with t-online information, according to which an imminent separation from Neppe has been expected within the club for some time. According to Sky, there are already amicable talks between both sides to end Neppe’s long-term working paper early.
Neppe’s departure can also be understood as a logical consequence of Eberl’s impending arrival.
How exactly the 50-year-old should and will fit into the competence and power structures of the record champions is an exciting but as yet unanswered question. Neppe, who was considered a close confidant of Salihamidžić and had a significant influence on squad planning in recent years, no longer needs to be taken into account.
Hoeneß and Rummenigge appreciate friend
Christoph Freund, on the other hand, has already earned a high reputation in the club since he began his work as FC Bayern’s sporting director in September. Hoeneß and Rummenigge in particular really value Freund, his abilities and his previous work at Bayern.
Freund scored points, among other things, with structural changes in the youth sector as well as close and good cooperation with campus boss Jochen Sauer. “We have worked together very well and trustingly in Salzburg for five years,” said Sauer in a recent t-online interview. “We always had a similar way of thinking.” (You can read the complete interview with Bavaria’s campus boss Sauer here.)