Zinedine Zidane could become Bayern’s head coach

One of the most high-profile dismissals in European football and the subsequent extremely high-profile appointment are planned. According to the authoritative Italian publication Corriere dello Sport, the management of the best club in Germany, Bayern Munich, has begun searching for a replacement for the team’s head coach Thomas Tuchel. It is alleged that he will be fired at the end of the season in any case. But it is very likely that it will not be completed until the end of February. At the same time, the Bavarian bosses have allegedly already entered into negotiations with the legendary football player and one of the most successful coaches of our time, Zinedine Zidane, who has been unemployed for three years.

In European club football, apparently, two interesting events are being prepared at once. At the same time, they are connected into a single whole. According to the authoritative Italian publication Corriere dello Sport, the management of Bayern Munich has already decided to part with the head coach of the most successful team in Germany (the Munich team won the national championship alone a record 33 times, and on the international stage they can boast of six Champions Cups won) Thomas Tuchel. Corriere dello Sport sources claim that Tuchel will definitely leave the club at the end of the season.

Note that Thomas Tuchel has been working at Bayern for only a short time – since March 2023. He made a really big name for himself at Chelsea, with whom he won the Champions League in 2021 (Tuchel came to the London club having already won two victories in the French championship with PSG). Formally, it is believed that under Tuchel, Bayern became the champion of Germany, but he still took over the team only in the second half of the season, replacing Julian Nagelsmann (the current head coach of the German national team), so all that was required of him was not to lose what he had gained by that time superiority over opponents.

Thomas Tuchel’s first full season at the helm of Bayern is not going well. In the national championship, the Munich team, who have held the championship title for the past 11 years, are in second place, already eight points behind the leading Bayer after 22 rounds. This gap arose after Bayern’s unexpected away defeat to the Bundesliga middle team Bochum (2:3). And before that there was a loss to Bayer (0:3) on February 10. And also the defeat (0:1) from Lazio in the first match of the 1/8 finals of the Champions League that happened between misfires in the national championship.

Three defeats in a row for a team of Bayern’s level is quite a reason to think about changing the coach. Moreover, according to reports from Bild, Tuchel never developed a relationship with the leading players of the team, in particular with Joshua Kimmich (under Nagelsmann he actually played the role of field coach), who, due to a conflict with the coach, allegedly even thought about changing the club . According to the Athletic, Tuchel’s dismissal could happen even before the end of the season. It is reported that the key match for him will be the meeting with Leipzig, scheduled for February 24. Defeat in it would supposedly mean Tuchel’s automatic dismissal.

As for the possible successors of the German specialist, here, apparently, the priority goal of the Bayern management is the famous French player and coach Zinedine Zidane. According to the same Corriere dello Sport, in addition to Zidane, several other top specialists are being considered as reserve candidates: Hans-Dieter Flick, who already has work both in Bayern and in the German national team, who needs no introduction to Jose Mourinho and no less famous Antonio Conte. What is noteworthy about this set of specialists is that at the moment they are all unemployed.

It is alleged that Bayern’s management has already made contact with Zidane’s representatives. Let us note that in 2022, Zidane, whose coaching career includes a brilliant hat-trick with Real (Madrid under the leadership of the Frenchman won the Champions League three times in a row – from 2016 to 2018), has not worked anywhere since 2021. In 2022, he expected to become the head coach of the French national team, but the plan was not implemented, since Didier Deschamps retained the post of team coach. Corriere dello Sport sources claim that after this Zidane decided to turn his attention back to the clubs. Bayern is perhaps one of the best options for Zidane.

Alexander Petrov