A return to Bayern Munich now not planned for Toni Tapalović

Per information from Tz’s Philipp Kessler (via @iMiaSanMia), it now looks like there won’t be a return to Bayern Munich by former goalkeeping coach Toni Tapalović. He is still technically under contract with Bayern and thus getting paid by them, but he is not working with the full squad of keepers at Sabener Strasse. Rather, he is only working one on one with Manuel Neuer, overseeing his return to full fitness from his leg injury. Neuer’s timetable to a full return has experienced a few speedbumps, though his entourage has remained adamant that the most recent delay is only precautionary as to not rush him back too soon.

To rewind just a bit, he was sacked by the club back toward the end of January this past season, just after the club had completed the signing of Yann Sommer from Borussia Monchengladbach. Sommer only had the chance to work with him very briefly after completing his winter transfer move to stand in as Neuer’s long-term replacement before the club made the decision to sack Tapalovic.

Back then, it was reported that Julian Nagelsmann did not like Tapalovic’s reluctance to follow his instructions and Alexander Nubel had also complained about Tapalovic’s favoritism towards Neuer. Of course, now both Sommer and Nubel are gone after completing moves to Inter Milan and VfB Stuttgart, respectively, but Michael Rechner is still the head goalkeeping coach at Bayern. He was brought in from TSG Hoffenheim after Tapalovic was sacked and had previously worked with Nagelsmann there.

Both Hasan Salihamidzic and Oliver Kahn had done their best to mediate the working relationship between Nagelsmann and Tapalovic, but they ultimately reached the conclusion that it wasn’t repairable. Hindsight is always twenty-twenty, but now all of Brazzo, Kahn and Nagelsmann are gone.

Back in June, it was understood that Bayern’s plan was to have Tapalovic mainly work with Neuer while Rechner worked with the rest of the keepers in the squad and that solutions would be found once Neuer made his full return. Thomas Tuchel has made very clear that he’s planning for Neuer to be the number one keeper for the upcoming season, but he might not be ready for the start of the competitive season and Sven Ulreich is the only other remaining senior keeper in the squad.

For now, Rechner will stay as the main goalkeeping coach while Tapalovic will continue to work privately with Neuer on his recovery process. Bayern, though, could still sign a keeper before the transfer window closes as they’ve shown interest in both David Raya and David de Gea.