Bundesliga: Rangnick confirms “contacts” with Bayern Munich, but...

Current Austria coach Ralf Rangnick confirmed on Wednesday that he is in discussions with Bayern Munich to replace Thomas Tuchel as coach of the German club this summer. The former Manchester United coach told Austrian media 90 Minutes that “there have been contacts” with Bayern, without indicating whether or not he would be the future holder of the position.

“Fully focused on the Euro” in Germany (June 14 – July 14), which he will play with Austria, Rangnick did not want to say whether he would take the reins of Munich. “I also informed the Austrian federation” of these contacts, he continued. “We have a real relationship of trust.”

Bayern are looking for a new coach after telling Tuchel in February that they were not counting on him for next season. The German press reported interest from Bayern in Leverkusen's coach deciding to stay in office. Some sources have mentioned an interest in Zinedine Zidane.

“I feel very good” with Austria, he continued, “for the moment there is no reason to take care of (Munich's interest) intensively and specifically . If Bayern said to me 'we want you', I would have to ask myself if that's really what I want,” he evaded.

The 65-year-old coach will have a lot to do at the Euro to get out of a tough group against France, the Netherlands and Poland. Nicknamed the “godfather of gegenpressing,” or counter-pressing, Rangnick has had a lot of influence on German football and its coaches in recent years. Before his seven-month stint in Manchester (2021-2022), he coached numerous German clubs including Hanover, Schalke, Hoffenheim, Leipzig. At the end of the last century, he brought Ulm into the Bundesliga for the first time.

Leverkusen stopped a series of eleven consecutive titles for Bayern, on the other hand still in contention in the Champions League, facing Real Madrid in the semi-final.