Bayern reaches deal with RB Leipzig for highly rated executive

Bayern Munich has reportedly finalized negotiations with RB Leipzig regarding their former sporting director Max Eberl. He was previously fired by Leipzig brass way back in September. At the time, Eberl was heavily linked with a switch to Bayern. As a result, team officials publicly claimed the decision was due to the sporting director’s “failure to commit to the club.”

Despite only being at Leipzig for less than a year, Eberl made a significant impact on the club. The Red Bulls lost several key players during the most recent summer transfer window. This includes selling trio Josko Gvardiol, Dominik Szoboszlai, and Christopher Nkunku.

Nevertheless, the executive countered these moves by signing several youngsters to help soften the blow. Eberl helped bring in Lois Openda, Castello Lukeba, Benjamin Sesko, as well as Xavi Simons on loan. In total, Leipzig underwent a summer overhaul and made about $94 million in the process.

Bayern’s previous move for Nagelsmann part of Eberl negotiations

While Leipzig parted ways with Eberl months ago, Bayern still had to negotiate a deal to sign him this season. Now, according to a report by Bild, the two rival teams have officially struck a deal. The German newspaper claims that the reigning Bundesliga champions will pay Leipzig an initial $3.7 million transfer fee for the executive.

However, there seems to be more to the deal than just a one-time flat payment. Along with the aforementioned fee, the two sides also addressed the previous Julian Nagelsmann situation. The highly rated coach switched from Leipzig to Bayern in 2021 for about $26 million. The deal is the highest ever fee paid for a manager in the sport’s history.

After two years at the helm, the young coach was sacked by Bayern brass in the spring of 2023. Although the German giants were paying Leipzig the aforementioned fee, the payments will now seemingly stop.

Bild also claims that Leipzig has agreed to end Bayern’s Nagelsmann payments in the negotiations for Eberl. Instead, Bayern will add an extra $1.1 million to sign Eberl. In total, the Bundesliga champions are set to pay Leipzig $4.8 million to grab the sporting director. Eberl also waved any upcoming salary payments or bonuses from his former employer as well.

Bayern completes executive board with Leipzig swoop

Eberl will soon enter the fray as Bayern’s head of sport. The club previously fired sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic, as well as CEO Oliver Kahn, a mere minutes after their narrow Bundesliga title victory last May. They then hired Christoph Freund to take over the sporting director position.

The introduction of Eberl now essentially completes a backroom staff at the German team. Along with Freund, Bayern also has club president Herbert Hainer, CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen, and deputy chairman Uli Hoeneß.

Despite the series of moves, Bayern has not exactly been as dominating as usual during the current campaign. The German giants currently sit second in the Bundesliga standings at the moment. Surprise team Bayer Leverkusen has the top spot thanks to being undefeated up to this point of the season. Bayern has previously collected the last 11 German top-flight titles.

PHOTOS: IMAGO.