Reports Bayern Munich approached Freiburg’s
Christian Streich to become their head coach
has added extra spice to Sunday’s Bundesliga
clash between the sides.
Streich
According to German daily Bild, Bayern made
“loose contact” with Streich, 52, in February to
replace Jupp Heynckes next season.
Heynckes, 72, is adamant he will walk away
from Bayern in May and the hunt is on to find
his successor.
However, Freiburg’s sports director Jochen
Saier is annoyed by the speculation and the
prospect of losing their iconic coach.
“Someone builds something up in this world,
others take it down, we can not do much
about that,” Saier told Sport1.de
“But we will certainly not jump through every
hoop which is held up for us and are looking
forward to an interesting game against Bayern
Munich.”
Heyncckes, for one, has given his seal of
approval to such a move.
“He’s been working for Freiburg for 23 years,
and if you have to give up your best players
every year, yet can still put together a team
that can stay in the league, that’s great,”
Heynckes said on Friday.
“I like the way he works with his lads, he has
a lot of empathy and is an exceptional coach.”
Bild claimed Bayern contacted Streich as two
prefered candidates — Liverpool boss Jurgen
Klopp and Germany’s World Cup winning coach
Joachim Loew — are unavailable.
Hoffenheim’s Julian Nagelsmann, 30, and Niko
Kovac, 46, at Eintracht Frankfurt — rising stars
on the Bundesliga circuit — are both
considered too inexperienced, say Bild.
Thomas Tuchel, who was sacked by Borussia
Dortmund last May despite winning the
German Cup, is seen as too volatile for
Bayern’s senior figures.
The eccentric Streich, who has been at
Freiburg since 1995, has a reputation for
nurturing talent who then often move on to
bigger clubs.
He is known for lecturing his players on
current affairs as much as football and
Freiburg regularly punch above their weight
under his stewardship.
Sunday’s match at Freiburg’s Schwarzwald
Stadion, where the hosts are unbeaten in their
last six games, will have plenty of other talking
points.
Rumours are again rife that Bayern striker
Robert Lewandowski, who is on 29 goals for
the season, is eyeing a move to Real Madrid.
It has emerged the Poland star is working with
Israeli agent Pini Zahavi, who fixed Neymar’s
world record move to Paris Saint-Germain and
has close links with Real.
On Friday, Heynckes warned Lewandowski to
focus solely on Bayern, who are 19 points
clear at the top of the Bundesliga.
Heynckes’s ticking off came after
Lewandowski and Germany defender Mats
Hummels traded insults in a fiery Bayern
training session on Wednesday.