Still in the running for the Champions League but dethroned in Germany by the irresistible Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern Munich is having a strange season. Of which he knows, at least, one of the elements of the end: Thomas Tuchel is guaranteed to leave his position as coach this summer. The great waltz of names to replace him has therefore already begun and among these, one well known in France stands out: that of Zinédine Zidane.
According to information from L'Équipe and Mundo Deportivo, which we are able to confirm, the former Real Madrid coach is indeed part of the list of favorite contenders for the position drawn up by the Bayern board. Two other names appear alongside him, those of Ralf Rangnick, the current coach of Austria, notably with Manchester United and RB Leipzig, and Roberto De Zerbi, the coach of Brighton in the Premier League. The first rumors linking Zidane to Bayern appeared at the start of 2024.
Nagelsmann, targeted, extended with Germany
No agreement exists to date between the two parties, even if Mundo Deportivo announces with certainty that “Zizou” is “a stone’s throw from Bayern”. However, as L'Équipe points out, the profile of the Bavarian club has everything to correspond to the type of club that Zidane would be looking for to restart his coaching career, which has been on hold since the summer of 2021. If he had limited his options to a handful of possibilities handpicked in the past, it would have opened up the field of its possibilities, argues L'Équipe.
Julian Nagelsmann, although sacked a little over a year ago by Bayern and replaced at short notice by Thomas Tuchel, was the leaders' No. 1 choice and according to some German media, he was very close to a return . But he announced this Friday that he would extend his contract with the German federation to remain at the head of the national team until 2026.