Former CEO Rummenigge: Bayern need 'more Uli Hoeness'

Former Bayern Munich CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge is convinced that the club will still need Uli Hoeness and himself as influential members of the supervisory board for some time to come.

"I have to say one thing, regardless of my personal opinion: FC Bayern doesn't need less Uli Hoeness, it needs more Uli Hoeness," he told dpa in an interview on the occasion of his 70th birthday on Thursday.

Rummenigge stepped down prematurely as CEO in mid-2021 after almost two decades in the club's management to make way for former Bayern goalkeeper Oliver Kahn.

However, after the turbulent departure of Kahn and board member for sport Hasan Salihamidzic less than two years later, Rummenigge returned to the German record champions as a member of the supervisory board after Hoeness called him and asked him for help.

"Uli Hoeness called me at the time and said that it wasn't working. Julian Nagelsmann, who was supposed to be the long-term coach, had been dismissed. Thomas Tuchel came in as his successor, but he never fit this club. All of this led to upheaval. Uli said to me: 'You have to support me. You have to help me. I can't do it alone,'" Rummenigge explained.

Since then, joint efforts have been made to restore "a certain degree of continuity" in the club's management, particularly on the board.

"Overall, we need a board that thinks and works like Bayern. Not everything has been done yet, but we are back on the right track," Rummenigge said.