Rudi Völler has extended his contract as sporting director of the German selection until the end of the 2026 World Cup, the German Federation (DFB) announced on Monday, a “positive signal” sent to coach Julian Nagelsmann, under contract until at the end of Euro-2024.
World champion in 1990 as a player, then coach of the Mannschaft from 2000 to 2004 (vice-world champion in 2002), Rudi Völler was appointed sporting director in February 2023 to succeed Oliver Bierhoff, who resigned from his post after the German fiasco at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar (elimination in the 1st round). Völler also acted as coach for a few days at the end of summer 2023, between the sidelining of Hansi Flick (September 10) and the appointment of Julian Nagelsmann (September 22).
“In the 14 months that have just passed since my appointment, I have realized that my responsibilities at the DFB are becoming more and more important to me every day. What was at the beginning the feeling of an obligation towards Germany, the federation and the selection, has long become a personal wish,” explained Völler, quoted in the Federation press release.
For Andreas Rettig, member of the DFB management, the extension of Völler’s contract until the end of the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada (June 11-July 19), is a “positive signal » towards coach Julian Nagelsmann, “with whom we also wish to work in the long term”.
Völler’s preferred candidate to succeed Flick, Nagelsmann is under contract until the end of Euro-2024 at home (June 14-July 14). The Federation, through its president Bernd Neuendorf, announced that discussions for an extension would be initiated after the international window at the end of March, during which Germany beat France (2-0) and the Netherlands (2-1).
Bayern sporting director Max Eberl has almost taken note of an extension for Nagelsmann with the Mannschaft, making the idea of the Bavarian technician returning to Munich impossible. “As I know Rudi, he will succeed in doing it, he will close the deal,” said Max Eberl before taking the plane to London, where Bayern faces Arsenal on Tuesday in the quarter-final first leg of the Champions League. champions.
Nagelsmann’s name returned to the German press as a potential successor to Thomas Tuchel this summer on the Bayern Munich bench, just 15 months after being sidelined by Munich management on March 24, 2023.
