Sandro Wagner: “I definitely want to come back to Bayern” — as a coach?

Sandro Wagner revealed on Sport1 that he’s aspiring to become a coach upon the end of his playing career. The 31-year-old said, “I definitely want to start a coaching career,” with a view of a return to FC Bayern Munich.

A native of Munich, Wagner hopes that a return to Bavaria is on the horizon. “I also definitely want to come back to Bayern.” Wagner declined to go into details, but said he had “cleared everything up with Bayern Munich” with regards to employment at the club. The potential return of Wagner further highlights the extended Bayern family network: Martin Demichelis was the latest player to return to the club as a coach.

Wagner remains focused on his playing career in China and beyond for now. “I still have a few years left as a player and I want to enjoy them now,” he said. His contract at Tianjin Teda expiring in 2020, the 31-year-old remains optimistic about continuing his playing career and possibly returning to Germany. “I’ll be 33 then. [I don’t know] whether a Bundesliga club will still be waiting for me. I’m relaxed and open to anything.”

The striker’s Germany career reached boiling point in 2018 when he was omitted from the 2018 World Cup squad. He subsequently fell out with Joachim Löw and abruptly retired from international football. Over a year later, however, Wagner has reveled that he has buried the hatchet with the Germany head coach. “We’ve spoken; we have a good relationship now,” he said. “It’s nice, after all, to talk things out months or years later after such a conflict. We came back closer together again and then we met in the middle.”