Berlin (AFP)
Bayern Munich have recruited from next season Julian Nagelsmann, the coach of their Bundesliga rival, Leipzig, to replace Hansi Flick, with a record compensation for a technician, up to 30 million d 'euros.
"The length of Julian's five-year contract alone shows how much he identifies with FC Bayern. I have no doubts that we will shape Bayern's sporting future with Julian Nagelsmann with great success." , estimated Oliver Kahn, member of the management board and future boss of the club.
For his part, Nagelsmann said he left Leipzig "with a heavy heart".
He said he had received "requests from other clubs" but refused because his "lifelong dream" was to coach Bayern.
- Record compensation -
The reigning eight-time German champion - current series - did not specify the amount of compensation paid to Leipzig, where Nagelsmann was under contract until 2023.
But the boss of the Saxon club, Oliver Mintzlaff, nevertheless hinted that the figure of 30 million euros, including success bonuses, mentioned in the German media corresponded to reality: "We do not deny the rumors that run".
And asked about the possibility of further departures from Leipzig in the wake of Nagelsmann and his assistants Benjamin Glück and Timmo Hardung, Mr Mintzlaff added that "everything else will cost (it) another 30 million".
This sum makes the rising star of German football the most expensive coach in history.
It exceeds the record held so far by the Portuguese André Villas-Boas, who left Porto for Chelsea in 2011 for an amount estimated at 15 million euros.
Nagelsmann will succeed Hansi Flick, author of a historic sextuplet last season but who, in conflict over recruitment policy with his sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic, has asked to leave.
Flick, who has been at Bayern since November 2019, is a big favorite to succeed Joachim Löw at the head of the German team, a position which will be vacant after the Euro in June.
- Dazzling rise -
With the signing of Nagelsmann, Bayern made a big blow by securing the services of a gifted.
By taking the reins of Hoffenheim from February 2016, he became at the age of 28 the youngest coach in the history of the Bundesliga.
He succeeded in hoisting this club from a village of less than 5,000 inhabitants, sponsored by a German billionaire, to the Champions League.
In 2019, he arrived in Leipzig and in the same season became the youngest semi-finalist coach of the Champions League at 33.
He has succeeded in making the "Roten Bullens" Bayern's main contenders in the league, taking the place usually reserved for Dortmund.
In his new role, the pressure on his shoulders will be immense: in addition to assuming the label of "most expensive coach in the world", he arrives in a team made to win and for whom to win the league title - the 9th in a row. being practically in the pocket - appears to be normal.
Nagelsmann will especially have to shine on the European scene by making forget the early elimination in the quarterfinals of the Champions League against Paris SG this year.
However, with this choice, the reigning European champion will not improve his reputation as a "talent looter" in the Bundesliga, by weakening a direct competitor and current runner-up in the championship (7 points behind three days from the end of the season).
At Bayern, Nagelsmann will find the pillar of his defense, the 22-year-old French international Dayot Upamecano, whose transfer to Bayern from next season was formalized in February.
As for the post of trainer in Leipzig, it is another technician of "the Red Bull team" which could be recruited according to the German media, the American Jesse Marsch currently in charge of Salzburg in Austria.
© 2021 AFP