Candidate to succeed Kuntz
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Sebastian Kehl has commented publicly for the first time on the rumors that Hamburger SV is interested. The 45-year-old sports director of Borussia Dortmund is reportedly one of HSV’s candidates for the position of sports director after the Bundesliga returnee and Stefan Kuntz separated at the end of last year.
“Well, first of all in general: I don’t think I have to emphasize what this club means to me, I’ve been here for over 24 years,” said Kehl on “Sky” before the BVB game in Dortmund against FC St. Pauli. “My focus is exclusively on this transfer period, on the issues we have to work on here.” That’s why he doesn’t have any other thoughts at the moment “other than concentrating on this.” Sports director Lars Ricken recently made similar comments.
Kehl’s New Year’s resolution to deal with rumors at BVB
Kehl moved as a professional from SC Freiburg to Dortmund at the beginning of 2002. He ended his career at BVB in the summer of 2015. Three years later he joined as head of the licensing department as an official, and the 31-time national player has been Westphalia’s sports director since mid-2022. At the moment he “honestly doesn’t have any other topics. And if I can contribute something else: I have something planned for this year. Not to comment further on rumors about me,” said Kehl. “Maybe we’ll try not to break this on January 17th.”
When asked whether he would be interested in the position at HSV, Kehl replied: “I think I have just formulated it. (…) I am enjoying this task here and my head and my focus are at Borussia Dortmund.” When the reporter finally wanted to know whether Kehl could rule out a move now or in the summer, he replied after a pause: “I think I’ve given my answer.” In an interview with “DAZN” he also made a commitment to BVB and reported on his New Year’s resolution regarding dealing with rumors.
“Sky” had already reported before Dortmund’s Bundesliga game against Werder Bremen that Kehl was being discussed particularly intensively on the Hamburger SV supervisory board as a candidate for the post. But there hasn’t been any contact yet. Last year, Kehl, who has a contract with BVB until the summer of 2027, was already linked to VfL Wolfsburg. Ex-DFB sports director Oliver Bierhoff is also traded at HSV.
