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Max Eberl admits: “Christoph and I are annoyed!”

According to Max Eberl (right), Bayern have had Vincent Kompany on their list for a long time.

(Bild: APA/AFP/POOL/THILO SCHMUELGEN, GEPA)

It took a long time for FC Bayern to introduce Vincent Kompany as their new coach. The Munich club had the Belgian on their list right from the start, as sporting director Max Eberl has now revealed. However, he is annoyed that they did not seek contact with the former Burnley coach earlier.

"The search for a coach is a long story, everyone has noticed that," said Eberl in the Sky interview, making no secret of the fact that the search for a successor to Thomas Tuchel turned out to be more complicated than expected. 

CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen, coach Vincent Kompany, sporting director Max Eberl and sporting director Christoph Freund (from left to right)

(Bild: fc Bayern)

One name that is said to have been discussed from the outset is that of Kompany. "We always had Vincent on the list. Christoph (Freund, editor's note) and I are annoyed that we didn't seek talks earlier," admits the 50-year-old.

"Catcher of men"
Eberl is convinced that the fact that they finally invited Kompany to negotiations was the right choice: "Vincent is a great person, a man-catcher who clearly knows how he wants to play soccer. Of course you could put a question mark over it, he was relegated with Burnley. But you have to look deeper. How did he play soccer? Which players did he have at his disposal? We have had very intensive discussions about the squad in recent weeks." 

The former Manchester City captain also knows how big dressing rooms work, as he was Pep Guardiola's "extended arm" for years. The season's goals under the new coach? "To win everything! Of course there is a lot of pressure, but FC Bayern is always the club to chase, in all competitions. The Champions League final is a big goal, but there's still a long way to go." It should work out with Kompany ...