Long-time Bayern Munich official Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has ditched retirement and returned to the club, but now he sees himself “primarily in a role of advisor.”
“In the future, the supervisory board will certainly ask (honorary president) Uli Hoeneß and me in particular for advice on sporting matters. I won’t intervene in the operations,” he said on Wednesday.
“It will be a task for the chairman of the board and the future sporting director to conduct talks and negotiations,” he added.
Rummenigge left the Bavarians in 2021, but was appointed to the club’s supervisory board on Tuesday.
This was after his replacement Oliver Kahn and sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic were dismissed at the weekend.
Bayern Munich had a difficult season, in which they sacked coach Julian Nagelsmann out of nowhere in March and signed Thomas Tuchel.
Tuchel presided over UEFA Champions League and German Cup exits at the quarter-final stage.
Their Bundesliga reign was almost ended by Borussia Dortmund.
Bayern Munich claimed the title with a dramatic 2-1 win at Cologne on the final match day and as Borussia Dortmund were held to a 2-2 draw by Mainz.
“Now I feel the need to stand by the club where I spent 40 years of my life as a player, vice-president and chairman of the board,” Rummenigge said.
He believes the change of coach brought “quite a lot of unrest” to the club.
“It’s important that certain values that have always been very important for Bayern Munich are once again experienced at the club,” the former Germany forward added.
However, he praised Tuchel and is convinced that he “will be a very successful coach at Bayern Munich” in spite of his difficult start.
Rummenigge said that new CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen is “absolutely the right man to get Bayern Munich back on track,” and stressed he doesn’t have “anything negative” to say about Kahn.
“I have a great sense of gratitude to him since 2001. We wouldn’t have won the final in Milan against Valencia, which made us UEFA Champions League winners, without Oliver Kahn,” Rummenigge said.
Kahn saved three penalty kicks in the shootout to lead Bayern Munich to victory “and that’s why we’re very grateful to him and always will be.”
Kahn and Salihamidzic were also criticised for their transfer policy, especially after deciding not to sign a new top striker following Robert Lewandowski’s departure last summer to FC Barcelona.
But if fans are hoping to see Bayern Munich spending big in the upcoming transfer market, these expectations might be frustrated.
Rummenigge stressed that a new striker “will certainly be a position Bayern Munich will look at.
”But you don’t always need to spend hundreds of millions of euros in transfers. It’s more important to be a functional team,” he said.
“At clubs like Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) or Manchester City, there’s an incredible amount of money (available).
“But we have to get our strength from the team spirit and from the fact that the club, together with the fans, is once again standing together like a wall.”
The main goal, however, is to bring tranquillity back to the club quickly.
“I was a player myself, I know how it is. The team suffer when there’s turbulence. The players must trust the club —- and the club must trust the players,” Rummenigge said.
dpa/NAN
