In the meantime, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has settled into a new life without a constant presence in the limelight, restlessness and the never-ending pressure to succeed.

It's just "less exciting" and "more stress-free" than in the two decades as CEO of FC Bayern Munich, as the 66-year-old confessed at a meeting in his home town of Grünwald.

But it seems to suit him.

Seven months ago he handed over the post of CEO to Oliver Kahn, six months before his contract expired.

In the end he wasn't burned out like the much younger maker Max Eberl, 48 years old, when he abruptly retired from Borussia Mönchengladbach.

Sure, many will say.

As the boss of FC Bayern, the shop practically runs itself.

Rummenigge counters: "In my 20 years as CEO at Bayern Munich I have not only experienced sunshine." He too had to "have a thick skin in this business".

His release went according to plan.

"When I stopped in the middle of last year, I went to my favorite island of Sylt for eight weeks to counteract possible withdrawal symptoms." The summer on the North Sea was "extremely nice".

Far away from Munich, he had a lot of time for his large family, which he and his wife Martina visited little by little on the holiday island.

That was distracting.

The Rummenigges have five children, and the seventh grandson is currently on the road.

Self-determined farewell

But of course football won't let go of the former national player.

And he also continues to follow FC Bayern closely.

He watches every game, in the stadium or on TV, "but more relaxed", as the former boss expressly emphasizes: "I'm still emotionally involved, but everything on one level, so I'm not so upset anymore."

Rummenigge is happy to emphasize that he "self-determined" decided to withdraw from Germany's top club earlier than planned.

"I felt that it was the better time to retire in the summer and to hand over responsibility for the entire season to my successor and not just for half of it," explains Rummenigge.

Kahn pawed his hooves.

The former goalkeeping titan now has the power - and the pressure.

Rummenigge's legacy is immense.

"We're looking back on ten years that were incredibly successful for Bayern Munich - both sportingly and financially," says the retired Bayern boss.

“We were a role model in European football.

Holding this position has become more difficult – especially due to Corona.” After a year and a half as a trainee on the board, Kahn (52) increasingly pushed for responsibility.

Rummenigge now wants his successor to go his own way: "I don't want to be seen as a know-it-all and give him advice."

Together with today's Honorary President Uli Hoeneß, Rummenigge formed FC Bayern into a world-famous club.

“What particularly distinguished Karl-Heinz is his network.

There is no official in Europe who has built up such a network,” Hoeneß recently praised him.

As a representative of the European Club Association ECA, Rummenigge is a member of the Executive Committee of UEFA.

He consistently represents the club's interests there and continues to be active in the center of power as an influential lobbyist for FC Bayern.

"That can not be"

Article 1 of Rummenigge's Basic Law on Football reads: "The basis of everything that happens in football is club football." He is therefore inevitably opposed to the biennial World Cup tournaments that FIFA President Gianni Infantino is aiming for.

"It can't be that we always expand national team competitions and play more often."

Above all, Rummenigge is concerned about the competitiveness of the Bundesliga – especially in comparison to the English Premier League, which is financially overwhelmed.

This has “x times the amount of television money”, for example in foreign marketing.

He would open the door to investors.

The national dominance of his Bavarians is too much even for him: "Of course it's great for FC Bayern if they're going to be German champions for the tenth time in a row.

But that's not good for the topic of emotion in football and in the Bundesliga."