Julian Nagelsmann has been sacked by Bayern Munich, with Thomas Tuchel confirmed as his successor.
The Bundesliga champions are struggling domestically this season and lie second behind Borussia Dortmund.
Nagelsmann, who has not been at the training ground this week, is understood to have lost his job because the team has gone backwards in the league and the hierarchy have not seen enough player development.
Players and bosses at Bayern were also surprised to see that the 35-year-old was on a skiing holiday this week at such a pivotal time as they feel it sends the wrong signal, according to Sky in Germany’s Florian Plettenberg.
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Tuchel, 49, has been out of work since being sacked by Chelsea in September under the new ownership of Todd Boehly.
The 49-year-old, who has been living in Munich for some weeks, has previously managed Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain. Bayern’s players were already aware earlier in the week that Tuchel would be their new manager.
The former Chelsea boss is expected to take his opening training session on Monday with his first game set to be against former club Dortmund, who sit top of the table, on April 1 – live on Sky Sports.
Tuchel convinced the Bayern hierarchy with his plans for the club and his track-record of managing high-profile players like Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.
The German club have won 10 consecutive Bundesliga titles and they face Manchester City in the Champions League quarter-finals next month.
The tie sees Pep Guardiola take on his former side with the winners set to face Real Madrid or Chelsea for a place in the final.
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Bayer Leverkusen forward Amine Adli was incredibly given two yellow cards for simulation on two separate occasions against Bayern Munich and had them both overturned and given as penalties as Leverkusen won 2-1
But Bayern’s poor Bundesliga form has left the club feeling the need to act to avoid losing their crown.
Nagelsmann won 60 of his 84 games in charge since taking over in July 2021 but has lifted just one Bundesliga trophy and two German Super Cups across his tenure.
Bayern lost 2-1 against Bayer Leverkusen before the international break and host Dortmund in Der Klassiker when they return to domestic action. They would slip four points behind Edin Terzic’s side if they were beaten.
CEO Oliver Kahn told the club website: “When we signed Julian Nagelsmann for FC Bayern in the summer of 2021, we were convinced we would work with him on a long-term basis – and that was the goal of all of us right up to the end.
“Julian shares our aspiration to play successful and attractive football. But now we have come to the conclusion that the quality in our squad – despite the Bundesliga title last year – has come to the fore less and less often.”
Why Bayern moved swiftly to secure Tuchel
Bayern slipped to a 2-1 defeat to Bayer Leverkusen
Sky in Germany’s Bayern Munich reporter Uli Kohler:
“This was a surprise for everyone. Even Julian Nagelsmann was completely surprised when he heard he would be sacked.
“It was a journalist that asked, ‘Do you know that you will be sacked tomorrow?’, and he said, ‘No, I only got a phone call that I have to show up today at the headquarters”.
“It was the last 10 games, Bayern won only five. This is a record that is not suiting to Bayern Munich. There have been rumours for a long time that he doesn’t get on with the bosses.
“Nagelsmann is a very good coach as you can see in the Champions League. They won all the games against Barcelona in the group stage and PSG [in the knockouts] with clean sheets.
“Next weekend is Der Klassiker against Dortmund. It is the most important game because Dortmund is the number one team in the table, with Bayern one point behind.
“With all of these things together, no one could understand the decision.
“But the Bayern bosses were not convinced that he could solve Bayern’s problems, which I cannot understand.
“One thing which is very important – Thomas Tuchel will be the new coach. He has so many offers from Tottenham and Real Madrid, so Bayern thought they had to do it now because if something goes wrong in the summer he will not be available anymore.
“But sacking Nagelsmann is a very risky thing.”
Spurs assessing options in case Conte leaves | Keeping an eye on Nagelsmann
Could Nagelsmann be heading to Tottenham if Antonio Conte leaves?
Tottenham are assessing managerial options if Antonio Conte leaves the club. The Italian’s future is uncertain following his outburst after the 3-3 draw at Southampton and it is thought Spurs’ hierarchy are considering a number of managers to succeed Conte.
That includes keeping an eye on Nagelsmann, who on Friday was sacked as Bayern Munich manager and replaced Tuchel.
Interestingly, Nagelsmann is someone Tottenham have looked at twice before when recruiting a new manager. Tuchel is another man Tottenham sounded out – but they quickly became aware he wanted to take on the Bayern job.
