New coach soon to arrive?

Eberl mysterious: “Door suddenly opened”

Who can Max Eberl present as the new Bayern coach?

(Bild: AFP / SID)

Shortly before Bayern's match against Stuttgart, sporting director Max Eberl commented on the difficult search for a new coach. The rejection of Ralf Rangnick would hurt, but a door had suddenly opened. According to Sky, FC Bayern Munich have approached Julen Lopetegui in their search for a new coach.

 The 57-year-old Spaniard most recently coached English Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers, where his contract was terminated last August just a few days before the start of the season. Lopetegui had previously coached the Spanish national team, Real Madrid and Sevilla FC, among others.

The German newspaper "Bild" also reported that Munich were looking into the possibility of Lopetegui as a coach. According to the report, Roger Schmidt from Benfica Lisbon is also an option - although the ex-Salzburg coach has already emphasized that he will remain at Benfica. Following the rejection of Ralf Rangnick, Julian Nagelsmann and Xabi Alonso, the German record champions are continuing their search for a successor to coach Thomas Tuchel, who will leave the club in the summer.

Bayern president Herbert Hainer does not expect Tuchel to remain at the club. "The agreement is in place," said Hainer on Saturday on the sidelines of the Bayern women's soccer team's early title win in Leverkusen. Sports director Max Eberl and sports director Christoph Freund are in talks with potential successors. "I am convinced that we will present a good coach," said Hainer.

Tuchel or a surprise?
He had only learned from the media that Tuchel had said on Friday that it was theoretically possible to terminate the separation agreement. "Now we'll wait and see what happens," said Hainer. However, Tuchel had also said that the agreement for his departure was still in place.

Meanwhile, Eberl no longer wanted to comment on any of the names being circulated. "I know how to do the job," Eberl said on Sky on Saturday ahead of the game at VfB Stuttgart. The fact that all the experts, "every forest and meadow newspaper", are jumping on the subject shows how interesting FC Bayern are, said Eberl. Rangnick's rejection was "ultimately surprising". "For us, however, it is what it is, and now we move on," said Eberl, who spoke of a "door" that had suddenly opened. The official did not reveal any further details. The club is acting "very, very reliably" and "very, very conscientiously".