Despite the tenth championship title in a row, FC Bayern is facing the most troubled summer in a long time. With Robert Lewandowski and Serge Gnabry, two well-known stars could leave the German record champions. There are also discussions about sports director Hasan Salihamidzic.
Uli Hoeneß once jokingly referred to herself as “Mother Teresa”, alluding to the Indian nun who died in 1997. With her work for the poor of Calcutta, she acquired an image (often questioned in the meantime) as an unconditional benefactor and even won the Nobel Peace Prize.
Last Sunday, the former manager, president and chairman of the supervisory board of FC Bayern slipped into the role of a mother lion defending her cub.
Hoeneß’ “youngster” is Hasan Salihamidzic, the club’s sports director and protégé of the longtime doer, whom he installed as sports director in the management team in 2017 and with whom he is said to be in constant contact today.
FC Bayern: Criticism of “hunting” on Hasan Salihamidzic
A “hunt” on the ex-professional from Munich is currently taking place in the media, Hoeneß complained and opposed the increasingly loud criticism of Salihamidzic’s transfer policy.
He was “not solely responsible for the newcomers to FC Bayern,” said Hoeneß. “There’s always one picked out. When we won six titles, I didn’t hear anyone shouting ‘Hasan, Hasan’. Now that we don’t win the Champions League, now it’s his fault. That can’t be .”
Hoeneß’s angry and defensive speech went as far as saying that the association should deny unwanted journalists access to the holy of holies on Säbener Strasse for “a week”.
“Brutal” pressure on Hasan Salihamidzic
In fact, Salihamidzic is being fired on in many places and from almost all tubes, if you want to stay in the usual language of sports reporting.
“Salihamidzic is fighting for his job,” headlined “Bild” and stated that the pressure on the 45-year-old has increased “brutally” given the many unfortunate decisions in recent months.
The “Süddeutsche Zeitung” also called for “clear decisions” by the Bayern bosses. “Above all” Salihamidzic is required.
And the record national player Lothar Matthäus, who is almost omnipresent in the media, has been criticizing his former teammate almost every week for some time. The 61-year-old even discussed a possible successor with Borussia Mönchengladbach’s ex-manager Max Eberl.
FC Bayern lets Robert Lewandowski fidget
In particular, the cause of Robert Lewandowski falls on Salihamidzic, who is of course mainly responsible for personnel planning due to the job description.
For a long time, those responsible let the second best scorer in the history of FC Bayern fidget when it came to extending the contract. Also, according to reports, because they tried hard to get Erling Haaland signed to the end.
It was not until the end of April that Salihamidzic and CEO Oliver Kahn had an initial conversation with Lewandowski’s advisor Pini Zahavi, during which the club’s ideas for the 33-year-old Pole were apparently discussed in a rather non-committal manner.
“Statement against statement” at FC Bayern
In any case, Lewandowski made it clear after the last Bundesliga game at VfL Wolfsburg (2: 2) on the “Sky” microphone that he had “not received an offer” from FC Bayern – and wanted to leave Munich this summer.
Before the game, Salihamidzic also made the change request of the professional courted by FC Barcelona public for the first time. However, he said that Lewandowski had rejected an offer from the club – a classic case of “statement against statement”.
A few hours later, FC Bayern fans made it clear which side they were on in the conflict.
Ironically, on Saturday evening at the title party overture in the beer garden on Nockherberg, several hundred Salihamidzic supporters whistled loudly. For Lewandowski, on the other hand, there were “Lewy, Lewy” chants.
Approval for Salihamidzic is also dwindling within the club, the Munich “Abendzeitung” recently reported. The squad of advocates of the Bosnian is therefore smaller. An extension of his contract, which expires in 2023, has not been an issue so far, and a premature separation is possible.
Uli Hoeneß’ influence protects Hasan Salihamidzic – for now
However, it is questionable how realistic this scenario really is. Hoeneß officially no longer holds an operational office at FC Bayern.
Due to his seat on the supervisory board and his services to the club, his influence behind the scenes should be enough to keep his hand protective over Salihamidzic – at least for the time being.
Because if the controversial sports board should once again not have a lucky hand in regulating the Lewandowski inheritance, his chair could really start to wobble.
Serge Gnabry before leaving Bayern?
Especially since in the shadow of the many discussions about the future of the goalgetter, another personnel question also requires clarification soon: that of Serge Gnabry’s future. The national player’s contract with FC Bayern also expires in the summer of 2023.
Talks about an extension have been going on for months. However, there are still “differences of opinion” between the parties, as club president Herbert Hainer revealed in “Sport1″‘s “double pass” on Sunday. In plain language: Gnabry demands more salary than FC Bayern wants to pay him.
If there is still no sign of an agreement, according to “kicker”, the club management does not want to go into his last year with the 26-year-old, but rather sell him this summer.
Salihamidzic is threatened with further squad changes – and FC Bayern with restless weeks.
Tobias Knoop