Oliver Kahn’s quick adaptations helped Bayern Munich secure the treble

It’s only been just over eight months since Oliver Kahn joined Bayern Munich’s executive board, but his contributions have been nothing short of vital thus far. A club legend himself, Kahn knows how Bayern works in and out and he emulates the ‘Mia San Mia’ motto.

During his playing career, Kahn won the Champions League title alongside sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic. When Kahn officially became a member of Bayern’s executive board, Brazzo made it a goal of his to win the Champions League with Kahn by his side, only this time, from the front office. Fast forward to last Sunday and that’s exactly what happened as Bayern beat PSG 1-0 in Lisbon, Portugal and after the match, Kahn recalled Brazzo’s ambitions from eight months ago and said “no sooner said than done!” (Az).

Photo by Matthias Balk/picture alliance via Getty Images

Adapting to a difficult situation

When Kahn first came on to the executive board, the goal was for him to shadow Karl-Heinz Rummenigge for a year so that he would eventually be ready to step into the position of CEO in 2021. Having joined the executive board at the beginning of 2020, Kahn had only been shadowing Rummenigge for about two and half months before the coronavirus pandemic broke out and halted the Bundesliga for just over two months. The extended break in play was certainly something Kahn would not have expected, and like all clubs in world football, it presented Bayern with a lot of unprecedented challenges.

Kahn and the rest of Bayern’s executive board was thrust into a difficult situation trying to balance finances throughout the club during a time when revenue was taking a massive hit. While this wasn’t part of Kahn’s training itinerary, he aided in the decision making progress that helped Bayern stay financially sound and successful in an increasingly difficult environment.

Kahn also played a mediator’s role between Brazzo and Hansi Flick since the two had different opinions on a handful of transfer targets. In particular, the two differed in how the felt about Kai Havertz, Timo Werner, and Leroy Sane and they both had different pecking orders for the trio. Of course, Bayern wound up signing Sane finally while Werner and Havertz went to Chelsea, but Kahn played a pivotal role in getting Flick and Brazzo to see eye to eye. It’s not something that was asked or expected of him, but he made it work and everything panned out in that regard.

Kahn took to Twitter to describe his first couple of months on the executive board, finishing with Bayern securing another historic treble:

Kahn’s leadership will certainly come in handy once he takes over as CEO and he deserves all the credit for the work he’s done behind the scenes from January up until know. Danke, Ollie!