Bayern Munich’s Herbert Hainer talks through front office transition

Bayern Munich president Herbert Hainer is a big part of the club’s current transformation within the front office. That transition was expedited a bit when CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge decided to leave at the end of June, rather than the end of December.

For everyone, the move just made sense.

“It was a transition that all of us had planned for a long time. One and a half years ago, Oliver Kahn was integrated into the board at an early stage in order to prepare for his new role as CEO,” said Hainer in a recent interview with club magazine “51”. “In the past few months Karl-Heinz has transferred his areas of responsibility more and more to him, and now it was the final handover of the baton.

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“We all agreed that the end of the season was the ideal time for the handover. A new chapter begins with Julian Nagelsmann, and overall this change was now logical. All decisions that were last made and are pending now have an impact on the new season and beyond,” “So, it made sense for Oliver Kahn to take on responsibility now. Incidentally, I did the same at adidas and stopped five months earlier after my successor had been trained.”

Hainer is expecting a seamless working relationship with Kahn, who Hainer has worked closely with of late.

“I can say from my collaboration with him that he has accepted FC Bayern in all its facets and has prepared very intensively for this major task. It was wise and right not to want to take over everything from the start, but to implement the transition step by step together with Karl-Heinz,” said Hainer. “Now is the time for him to move into the front row. And anyone who has seen him in negotiations over the past few months, such as with Julian Nagelsmann, knows that he is someone who takes his point of view very clearly and always has a clear line. Kahn brings everything with him.”