Julian Nagelsmann never felt there was a good fit elsewhere before taking Germany job

He was certainly at least a little bit blindsided by Bayern Munich’s decision to fire him as manager back in March, but Julian Nagelsmann had his fair share of job offers before he eventually wound up accepting the German national team job. His job search happened to coincide with Hansi Flick’s gradual decline as Die Mannschaft manager.

In hindsight, it was wise of Nagelsmann not to jump right back into a managerial job right away after being sacked by Bayern and instead taking some time off to weigh potential options. It is well-known that he had contact with both Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund, but he never really felt like with either of those clubs, or any of the other clubs he had meetings with, were the right fit for him.

“I had a few meetings with other clubs, but never had the feeling it was the right step. With the national team, I immediately had that feeling. I feel honored to be the national team coach,” Nagelsmann explained in the press conference ahead of his first match as manager of the German national team (via Az’s Maximillian Koch, per @iMiaSanMia). Germany play the USMNT at 3pm EDT on Saturday.

Nagelsmann was also one of several names linked with taking the Germany job, but slowly and surely, most of the other candidates all but took themselves out of the running. There was even an idea loosely discussed to potential have Jürgen Klopp have a joint-managerial role, where he would be able to manage both Liverpool and Germany, but the former Mainz and Dortmund boss said he is fully committed to fulfilling his contract on Merseyside, giving it his full, 100% focus.