“The supervisory board of FC Bayern München AG unanimously decided (Monday) that Max Eberl will become the new sporting director of FC Bayern from March 1, 2024,” according to a club statement.
Long sporting director of Borussia Mönchengladbach then, more briefly, of RB Leipzig, Eberl was also appointed to the board of Bayern, replacing Hasan Salihamidzic in this position, sacked in May 2023. Max Eberl, arrived at FC Bayern at the age of six years where he played in all the junior teams and made his professional debut, is considered close to Uli Hoeness, a legendary and still influential figure at the club.
He was dismissed from his position at RB Leipzig at the end of September 2023, on the eve of hosting Bayern. Before this sidelining, the German press had announced that Eberl was preparing to join the Munich club. His predecessor Salihamidzic, as well as the former chairman of the Bayern board of directors, Olivier Kahn, were dismissed in the wake of an eleventh consecutive German championship title, obtained at the last minute and at the end of a last season judged disappointing.
Since then, the Munich residents have recruited the Austrian Christoph Freund in September, from the Red Bull galaxy like Eberl (former sports director at Salzburg) to supervise recruitment for the position of sports manager, but without joining the management board. The latter will therefore now work under the authority of Max Eberl, whose first task, as part of the reconstruction of the Munich group, will be to find a successor to Thomas Tuchel with whom Bayern decided to part ways at the end of the season, shortening his contract by one year.
The Bavarian club is in crisis: eliminated in the German Cup, left behind in the league by Bayer Leverkusen (8 points behind with 11 days remaining), still involved in the Champions League but beaten 1-0 in Rome by Lazio in the round of 16 first leg.
