Julian Nagelsmann: Bayern Munich sack manager and appoint Thomas Tuchel

FC Bayern Munich has fired coach Julian Nagelsmann after less than two years and appointed Thomas Tuchel as his successor until 2025.

The German side have won the last 10 Bundesliga titles and are second in the table this season – one point behind leaders Borussia Dortmund.

They beat Paris St-Germain and reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League, where they meet Manchester City.

He replaces Nagelsmann on a contract until June 30, 2025 and will train for the first time on Monday.

Bayern managing director Oliver Kahn said: “When we signed Julian Nagelsmann in the summer of 2021, we were convinced that we would work with him in the long term – and that was the goal of all of us right up to the end.

“But now we’ve come to the conclusion that quality in our squad – despite last year’s Bundesliga title – has increasingly come to the fore.

“After the World Cup we played less successfully and less attractively. The large fluctuations in performance have called into question our goals for this season, but also our goals for the future.

“That’s why we acted now. Personally and on behalf of FC Bayern, I would like to thank Julian and his coaching staff and wish them all every success for the future.”

Nagelsmann, 35, joined Bayern after a stint at RB Leipzig and won the league by eight points in his debut season. He also led the team to back-to-back German Supercup victories.

But a 2-1 loss to Bayer Leverkusen on Sunday left them with just five wins from their last 10 league games.

The assistant coaches Dino Toppmoller, Benjamin Gluck and Xaver Zembrod have also left the club.

Tuchel won the Champions League with Chelsea in May 2021 – one of three trophies won in 20 months at Stamford Bridge – and was voted World Coach of the Year after that season.

But the German, also formerly at Borussia Dortmund and Paris St-Germain, was sacked on Day 100 as new Chelsea owner Todd Boehly after a 1-0 defeat by Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League.

Bayern’s next game is on Saturday, April 1, against table leaders Dortmund.

Lutz Pfannenstiel, who worked with Nagelsmann at Hoffenheim, told BBC Sport there would be no shortage of offers from his former colleague.

“Julian is a strong personality and he is a top, world-class coach,” said Pfannenstiel – now athletic director of St. Louis City SC. “After a short break, the offers fly in on the left, right and in the middle.

“I think his next target will be a foreign club, after all where can he go in the Bundesliga from Bayern Munich? With Julian following the English Premier League a lot, that’s definitely one of the potential markets.

“Bayern were scared of going without a title this season and if you really want to change coaches now is the right moment because it’s the international break.

“But on the other hand, you could say it’s a crazy moment because you just eliminated PSG and especially considering he signed a five-year contract. That was a massive commitment from the club to switch the style of play to the Nagelsmann style.

“There was a certain clear plan and all of a sudden it burst like a bubble.”