A number of contenders, including Julian Nagelsmann, Hansi Flick, Ralf Rangnick, Xabi Alonso, Oliver Glasner, Roger Schmidt, Julen Lopetegui, and Unai Emery, were at least tangentially connected to Bayern Munich prior to their hiring of Vincent Kompany.

You may wonder how a deal with at least one of the former Bayern Munich managers, Flick and Nagelsmann, did not work out. Although Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Uli Hoeneß were apparently in favor of Flick’s comeback, the sextuple winner in Flick’s case reportedly just wanted a short-term deal, which did not sit well with board member for sport Max Eberl. Naturally, Flick ended up joining FC Barcelona.

Volker Struth, Nagelsmann’s agent, described the events that transpired for the captain of the German national team.

“I sensed that Bayern would return, and they did. Struth told Bild (as caught by @iMiaSanMia): “Max Eberl called me, and then called Sascha Breese [Nagelsmann’s second agent], and I met with him and Jan-Christian Dreesen in Munich.” Julian urged us to handle the matter delicately and was never involved. International matches against the Netherlands and in France in March went off without a hitch. At home, the mood was really beginning to heat up before the EUROs. The event might have been at danger only because negotiations were occurring. That was ultimately a major factor in Julian’s decision not to do it, particularly because the dismissal was relatively recent.

“I also received a call from Uli Hoeneß, who said that he would welcome Julian back as coach and that the split with Julian wasn’t handled in a Bayern-like manner.”

Hoeneß was reportedly unhappy with the way former CEO Oliver Kahn and former sporting director Hasan “Brazzo” Salihamidžić handled Nagelsmann’s very public (and very embarrassing) dismissal. Naturally, when the new hire, Thomas Tuchel, turned out to be one of the most controversial and polarizing choices in the club’s history, it was easy for Hoeneß (and others) to long for a simpler time when Nagelsmann was simply tinkering nonstop, alienating one of the club’s all-time great players (Robert Lewandowski), and choosing to go striker-less for a whole season.