Bayern was warned: this is not the first time Rangnick has cancelled negotiations
Ralf Rangnick will not be the new Bayern coach. The 65-year-old has turned the Munich club down. The decision comes as a surprise, but only at first glance. It is not the first time that Rangnick has cancelled negotiations with interested clubs.
Ralf Rangnick is known for his precise ideas when it comes to sporting management. In the talks with Bayern, he is also said to have demanded extensive rights to have a say in squad planning and player transfers. It remains to be seen what exactly Munich have offered him. The fact is that the coaching job at FC Bayern does not appear to have sufficiently appealed to Rangnick.
It is not the first time that the experienced football coach has cancelled negotiations on the home straight. in 2021, Rangnick was on the verge of a move to Eintracht Frankfurt. Back then, a promising round of negotiations with the club from Hesse ended in a public mud fight after disagreements between the parties could not be resolved.
Axel Hellmann, Eintracht’s CEO at the time, reported „turbulent days“. On the one hand, negotiations broke off because Rangnick and Frankfurt came to different conclusions about the future sporting direction and management structure. However, the chairman of Eintracht’s supervisory board, Philip Holzer, was particularly angry at the „deliberate misrepresentation of the contents of the negotiations to the media“.
Things didn’t work out with Rangnick in Milan and Schalke either
This episode throws a spotlight on Rangnick’s high demands on his role and the framework conditions under which he wants to work. Rangnick had similar experiences at Schalke 04 when, after initially positive talks, he ultimately decided against a job because he found the framework conditions unsatisfactory.
The negotiations with AC Milan in the summer of 2022 and the subsequent public criticism from Paolo Maldini also underline how complex and challenging negotiations with Rangnick can be. Maldini accused Rangnick of demanding too much control, which ultimately led to the talks collapsing. The then technical director grumbled at the time: „Before he learns Italian, he should rethink the concept of respect.“
„No rejection of FC Bayern“
Rangnick himself emphasised in his statement that it was a decision for the Austrian Football Association and not against Bayern: „I would like to emphasise that this is not a rejection of FC Bayern, but a decision for my team and our common goals. Our full focus is on the European Championship. We will do everything we can to get as far as possible there!“
