DFB names former Bayern Munich manager Julian Nagelsmann as coach of German national team with bizarre 10-month deal

As expected, the DFB named former Bayern Munich manager Julian Nagelsmann as its next coach for the German national team, but there was a catch.

Nagelsmann’s contract will only run for 10 months. The arrangement will keep him around long enough to lead Germany through the EURO 2024 competition, but not much more per a statement released by the DFB:

Julian Nagelsmann will lead the senior men’s national team as national coach to the European Championships in Germany next year. The 36-year-old football coach signed a contract today at the DFB campus in Frankfurt am Main until July 31, 2024. Previously, the supervisory board and shareholders’ meeting of DFB GmbH & Co. KG had agreed to the proposal from DFB President Bernd Neuendorf and sports director Rudi Völler voted unanimously to appoint Nagelsmann as the twelfth national coach in the history of the German Football Association.

Nagelsmann seems excited about his next project — even if it is a not a permanent stop for his career.

“We have a European Championship in our own country. That’s something special — something that happens every few decades. I subordinate everything to the fact of having a great tournament in a great country. I have a great desire to to take on this challenge. The appearance in Dortmund was the beginning. We will be a close-knit group next year,” Nagelsmann said.

Nagelsmann will hit the ground running with games in just a few weeks:

In October, Nagelsmann and the national team will go on tour to the USA and compete against the hosts of the upcoming World Cup. After the start against the USA on October 14th (from 9 p.m. CET, live on RTL) in Hartford in the US state of Connecticut, Germany will play against Gold Cup winners Mexico on October 17th (from 2 a.m. CET) in Philadelphia. On November 21st (from 8:45 p.m.) the German national team will face Austria in Vienna in the last international match before the start of the European Championship year.

Sandro Wagner and Benjamin Glück will be Julian Nagelsmann’s assistants for the German national team. No other staffing announcements were released.