Bayern Munich sack Julian Nagelsmann, hire Thomas Tuchel as new head coach

By Can Erozden

ANKARA (AA) - German football club Bayern Munich on Friday fired Julian Nagelsmann, and hired Thomas Tuchel as their new head coach.

"FC Bayern Munchen have released head coach Julian Nagelsmann. This decision was taken by CEO Oliver Kahn and board member for sport Hasan Salihamidzic in consultation with club president Herbert Hainer. Nagelsmann will be succeeded by Thomas Tuchel ... [who] will receive a contract until 30 June 2025 and will supervise squad training for the first time on Monday," the German Bundesliga club said in a statement.

Bayern Munich also dismissed Nagelsmann's assistant coaches Dino Toppmoller, Benjamin Gluck and Xaver Zembrod.

The defending German champions appointed the 35-year-old in 2021.

In his first season, Nagelsmann won the German Bundesliga title, and the German Supercup in 2021 and 2022.

This season, Bayern Munich qualified for the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals to play against England's Manchester City in April.

The Munich team, however, are ranked second in the German league to be in a tight battle against leaders Borussia Dortmund.

Bayern Munich's new head coach Tuchel is familiar with the German league as the 49-year-old earlier coached Borussia Dortmund for two years in 2015-2017 to win a German Cup.

Tuchel was a Chelsea manager and secured the 2021 UEFA Champions League title, and a UEFA Super Cup in the same year. He also guided the English club to the FIFA Club World Cup triumph, and was voted the World's Best Club Coach of the Year in 2021.

In 2022, Chelsea sacked him following a Champions League defeat in groups.

Before Chelsea, Tuchel worked for Paris Saint-Germain to win back-to-back French league titles in 2019 and 2020, as well as a French Cup.

In August 2020, Tuchel's PSG reached the Champions League final in Lisbon, but the French powerhouse lost to Bayern Munich.