Julian Nagelsmann will have a big decision to make this summer after he takes the German national team to Euro 2024, with Bayern Munich now making him their leading candidate to become their next manager.
The 36-year-old had a spell at Bayern before and although he won a Bundesliga title, he wasn’t entirely convincing, eventually losing his job last season to be replaced by Thomas Tuchel.
However, Tuchel has under-achieved this season and recently announced he’d be stepping down at the end of this season, meaning Bayern have a vacancy to fill again this summer.
Nagelsmann is leading the race to be the next Bayern manager, according to Fabrizio Romano, but there could still be a twist to this saga as his future with Germany remains undecided, while the likes of Roberto de Zerbi and Ralf Rangnick are being kept in mind as potential alternatives for the job.
Nagelsmann will be offered chance to extend Germany contract
Germany are understandably keen to keep Nagelsmann at the moment, though it will be interesting to see if that changes if he has a poor tournament at the Euros this summer.
It’s been a difficult few years for Germany, despite them normally being such a force at international level, so Nagelsmann will surely be under some pressure to improve things, and there’ll undoubtedly be many fans keen to get hold of tickets via sites like 1st4 and make their way to see how the team performs as they host this summer’s tournament.
Bayern notably tried to hire Xabi Alonso earlier this year, but he’s since committed to staying at Bayer Leverkusen for another year, so it’s perhaps clear that the Bavarian giants aren’t going after their first choice now anyway.
It perhaps makes sense that they feel it’s worth giving Nagelsmann a second stint in charge as he’s long been so highly rated as a coach, ever since spells at Hoffenheim and RB Leipzig in his late 20s and early 30s.
Euro 2024 seems likely to be a big test for Nagelsmann, though, as it’s possible this will end up as his big audition for Bayern, or perhaps for other top jobs, as he’s also been linked with the likes of Chelsea and Tottenham in recent years, even though those moves never materialised.
With players like Leroy Sane, Thomas Muller, Jamal Musiala, Florian Wirtz and Serge Gnabry, surely Germany have to be serious contenders for this year’s tournament.