Despite apparently deliberately placed allegations, FC Bayern continues to rely on Jan-Christian Dreesen as club boss. In the short term, this is true for three reasons. In the long term, however, the club needs a vision. And have to think about two special names.
FC Bayern has made a decision. Germany’s record football champions are extending the contract of their CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen early by two years until 2027. It is not an innovative and long-term solution that the club’s powerful supervisory board decided on Monday evening in the Munich stadium. But it brings the world club three things that it urgently needs. First: rest. Second: time. Third: continuity.
Another change at the top would have messed things up. It would have been the second in a year and a half after Oliver Kahn left. The club wants stability. Understandably. The working atmosphere at FC Bayern was not good under Kahn, but overall it is significantly better under Dreesen. The new contract for the 57-year-old is a sign: We don’t want to be FC Hollywood, at least internally. This had been the case too often in recent years.
In addition, there are currently few personnel alternatives for the position of CEO. The club’s bosses recently examined options, at least superficially; there was no concrete request to Oliver Mintzlaff from Red Bull. Bayern have now gained time to decide who should lead the club in the long term.
Dreesen has survived a dirty power struggle. The allegations and information that were apparently deliberately placed three weeks ago were known to the club management and had been processed internally – and did not change their decision in favor of Dreesen. In a report by “Manager Magazin”, the CEO was accused of escalating a dispute with an employee a good three years ago. Dreesen is said to have insulted the woman and thrown a magazine at her. The woman no longer works at the club.
FC Bayern is generating record sales
The Munich board must work together more closely and in a more trusting manner in the future. Honorary President Uli Hoeneß and Herbert Hainer recognize that Dreesen is expanding his network in world football and is popular with many in the club and in the fan scene. He has been at the club for over ten years and his financial and economic expertise is an important factor, especially in these tense times.
At the beginning of December, Dreesen and his management colleagues will report record sales, probably over 900 million euros, at the annual general meeting. Dreesen has an enormous amount of responsibility: FC Bayern has over a thousand employees and has to keep up with the financially strong world elite. With him and CFO Michael Diederich, two former bankers run the club.
In the long term, FC Bayern would benefit from having a big name, a personality with enormous charisma at the top. From Hoeneß’s point of view, it no longer necessarily has to be a former professional footballer for the club. But of course Thomas Müller would be the ideal solution.
Philipp Lahm also has to be on Bayern’s list
His contract as a player is valid until June 30, 2025. If Müller ends his career then, the world champion could be the right candidate two years later. Philipp Lahm, who most recently organized the European Championships in Germany, must also be on Bayern’s list in the future. He has gained many strengths and experiences as well as contacts in business and sports politics. Reservations from the long-ago phase, when Lahm wanted to become a board member instead of a sports director, can no longer play a role.
Dreesen is the right person for the short and medium term. He has earned the trust of the grandees around Hoeneß and supervisory board member Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. In the long term, FC Bayern needs a personnel vision.
Julien Wolff is a football editor and is in the stadium for most FC Bayern games. He has been reporting from Munich since 2011 about FC Bayernalso about the Bundesliga and the national team
