Max Eberl’s contract extension with FC Bayern has long been a done deal. However, discussions surrounding the decision apparently still preoccupy the club’s leadership in Munich. Uli Hoeneß has now surprisingly admitted that his public statements about the future of the sporting director caused internal friction.
On the sidelines of the anniversary event “80 Years of FC Bayern Basketball – never done,” the honorary president reflected on his comments from the summer. In late July, Hoeneß had publicly put the odds of Eberl’s contract extension at “100 percent”—even though the decisive vote by the supervisory board wasn’t scheduled until late August.
This apparently didn’t go over well with everyone within the club. “My interview at Tegernsee, with my ‘100 percent’ comment, caused me enough trouble—internally,” Hoeneß revealed.
The 74-year-old left it unclear who specifically had given him a dressing-down at the time. Hoeneß made it clear, however, that he had found himself in a difficult situation when giving his answer: “If I had said 80 percent that day, there would have been even more trouble. That’s why it was a choice between a rock and a hard place.”
Hoeneß explains his change of heart regarding Eberl
The background is particularly interesting. Just a few weeks earlier, Hoeneß had estimated the chances of Eberl’s contract being extended at “60 to 40” and, when asked if there were doubts about his work, had answered “Yes!”
Eberl reacted with visible annoyance at the time: “I’ve developed a thick skin, but on the day of the final, I didn’t think it was the right moment. I don’t know if you have to quote percentages in public.”
Later, the two had a heart-to-heart. And apparently, in the months that followed, Eberl managed to finally win over his critics—both on the field and within the club.
Hoeneß now explained what he believes has changed: “I think Max has opened up more within the club over the last six months. All of us—Karl-Heinz and I, but also Herbert Hainer—have been kept much better informed by him about everything than was previously the case. Before that, he’d been a bit of a loner, and we didn’t like that. But he’s changed that fundamentally!”
“Good work has been done there.”
In addition to internal communication, Eberl apparently impressed Hoeneß above all with his work in the transfer market. The honorary president praised the sporting director for implementing the club’s strategic guidelines.
“Especially when you look at the transfer window: He implemented our proposal—to sign players as early as possible because they might be more expensive after the World Cup—100 percent. As for the budget we had set—we wanted to invest up to about 50 million euros—we actually came in under that. I think we’ll only invest 30 million because we brought in nearly 70 million from player sales. So good work has been done there.”
In the end, Eberl’s contract was extended through 2029. Hoeneß’s statements are also interesting because President Herbert Hainer had recently clearly contradicted the portrayal of a long internal back-and-forth regarding this personnel decision.
Hoeneß now confirms, at the very least, that his public statements about percentages did indeed cause some friction within the club. At the same time, he makes it clear why Eberl ultimately received full backing: From the honorary president’s perspective, the sporting director changed his internal working methods and impressed with his transfer policy.