Julian Nagelsmann’s second spell at Bayern Munich will be a new negative for Kim Min-Jae, who has been pushed out of the center-back competition.
Sky Sports Germany released an interview with the German international oan Thursday (June 14). In the interview, Dürich was positive about Nagelsmann’s rumored return to Munich.
Munich won 2-0 at home against Cologne in the 29th round of the 2023-2024 Bundesliga at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany, on Sept. 13. The Bavarians snapped a two-game losing streak thanks to goals from Japhael Geheiro in the 30th minute and Thomas Muller in the 48th minute of second-half stoppage time. Munich added three points to their tally after two games, but remained in second place (W20 D3 L6 – 63 points). The gap to first-place Bayer Leverkusen (24 wins, 4 draws, 76 points) is now 13 points.
Derrikht started the match with Eric Dier at center back and played 61 minutes before being replaced by Dayo Upamecano in the 16th minute.
Speaking to the media after the match, Dürich addressed the recent speculation about Nagelsmann’s return to Munich.
“I have a good relationship with Nagelsmann. I worked well with him last year,” he said. “But he is now the head coach of the German national team. We’ll see who comes in as our coach next season,” he added.
Nagelsmann is currently the closest Munich has come to replacing Tuchel. His current contract with the German national soccer team expires after the UEFA Euro 2024 in his home country in June.
Current Munich coach Thomas Tuchel is set to leave the club at the end of the 2023-2024 season. “Currently, the most likely candidate to replace Tuchel is Julian Nagelsmann,” said Bavarian Football Works, citing German publication Sport.
“Nagelsmann is the favorite of Max Eberle (Munich director),” the outlet said. Eberle is a big fan of Nagelsmann and is expected to push for his appointment.” “Ralph Langnick and Robert de Zervi are next in line. Roger Schmidt is also on the shortlist, but only if he 메이저토토사이트 gets the chance.”
According to Sky Sports Germany reporter Florian Plettenberg, Munich have shortlisted Nagelsmann, Austria national team coach Ralf Rangnick and Brighton & Hove Albion (England) manager Roberto De Zerbi.
The reporter added: “Nagelsmann is in talks with Munich. He has left the door open for a return under certain circumstances. De Jervy believes he is ready for the challenge in Munich.”
Munich’s new director Max Eberle commented on Nagelsmann’s situation: “I know this topic is on everyone’s mind. I’ve said enough that we’re looking for options,” he told German news agency DPA, “but I’ve never mentioned names.” For the time being, he remained tight-lipped about Nagelsmann’s situation.
Nagelsmann took over as Munich coach in the summer of 2021 and led the club for a season and a half. After winning the Bundesliga title in the 2021-2022 season, he faced a crisis in the 2022-2023 campaign.
The title race with Dortmund was in jeopardy. After a 1-2 away loss to Leverkusen in the 25th round on March 18, he was sacked during the March A-match. At the time, he was second in the league with 15 wins, 7 draws, 3 losses, and 52 points, leaving Dortmund in first place. Derrikht was a key defender for the Bavarians when Nagelsmann was manager.
However, Munich had been searching for a new coach behind the scenes with Nagelsmann’s departure in mind, and announced the appointment of Thomas Tuchel to replace Nagelsmann.
Tuchel narrowly won the Bundesliga title with Dortmund’s loss to Mainz in the final game of the 2022-2023 season, but saw his 12th consecutive league title come to an end in the 2023-2024 campaign as Leverkusen went undefeated.
Derrikht joined Munich in the summer of 2022 for a whopping €67 million. Paired with Dayo Upamecano in Nagelsmann’s system, he became one of the best center backs in the league.
German soccer publication Kicker ranked him No. 1 overall in their “Rangiste” center back rankings for the 2022-2023 season, which they have been doing for more than 50 years. He was so good under Nagelsmann that he was named to Kicker’s Bundesliga Team of the Year.
This season, however, Derrikht has been plagued by a series of injuries that have left him disappointing in the first half of the season. Prior to his injury, he was playing alongside Kim Min-Jae. After returning from injury, he began to partner with Eric Dier, who joined the club in the January transfer window, pushing Kim and Upamecano back into the starting lineup.
The Diricht-Dyer center-back combination is likely to start the UEFA Champions League quarterfinal second leg against Arsenal on June 18.
Add to that the return of Nagelsmann next season and Dier’s position will be even stronger. Dyer, who has a good chemistry with Dirichlet, is also likely to be favored. If we consider the Dürrich-Upamecano combination in Nagelsmann’s first season, only Kim Min-Jae could be left out.
Of course, in terms of individual competitiveness as a defender, Kim Min-jae is not far behind, so there could be endless competition in Nagelsmann’s system. That’s what Kim would like to see. However, if Nagelsmann is confirmed for a second term in Munich, it’s bad news for Kim Min-jae, as it means a much tougher competition.