Oliver Kahn has spoken publicly for the first time since joining Bayern Munich's board. The former player laid out his belief in the importance of the club's youth teams, how he must change and Bayern's title hopes.
Image: picture-alliance/Sven Simon/F. Hoermann
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The start of Bayern Munich's 2020 has been dominated by talk of goalkeepers; current custodian Manuel Neuer, future shotstopper Alexander Nübel and now the past, present and future combined: Oliver Kahn.
Kahn, 50, gave his first press conference since rejoining the club he represented as a player between 1994 and 2008 on Tuesday. The former Germany keeper officially took up a position on the club's supervisory board on January 1 and is to succeed Karl-Heinz Rummenigge as club chairman on the first day of 2022.
"It was a special moment, today and the last few days," Kahn began. "This is a labor of love for me, there is a lot of heart and soul involved."
Work to do now and in the future
But Kahn, who made more than 600 appearances and won 16 major trophies in his playing days with the club, was also keen to talk up his business acumen. "I was already very interested in the economic side during my playing days. I then studied, but practice is also decisive. I have set up one or two companies and learned a lot in the process," he said.
Fundamentally though Kahn knows that he will largely be judged by what happens on the pitch. Bayern are four points behind leaders RB Leipzig as the Bundesliga comes to the end of its winter break.
"We don't want to allow ourselves to give up the championship this season. Seven titles in a row is something for the ages - but so is eight. Everyone is highly motivated to become champions. And we don't just want to be champions, we were outstanding in the Champions League (group stages). Anything is possible."
More than this season though, Kahn has been tasked with continuing to evolve one of Europe's biggest clubs, with a number of new faces being integrated to the first team in recent seasons. Nübel will be one of them from next season, when he signs on a free transfer from Schalke, something Kahn called a "wise strategic decision" while urging Nübel to "get in line and learn from Manuel Neuer".
Bringing through youth a priority
But with 30-year-old Thomas Müller the only true Bavarian youth product to have become a regular first teamer in recent years, and with Rummenigge and former president Uli Hoenesskeen to maintain a German core within the serial champions' squad, the new man knows he will need to keep one eye on the future.
"The most important thing is the youth section," he emphasized. "It will also be important to create figures that people can identify with."
Kahn was famously firey as a player at BayernImage: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Schrader
His gradual introduction to the politically choppy waters at Säbener Straße will, according to Kahn, allow him to get to understand the club again from the inside and evaluate properly what is required from the role.
Known almost as much for his fiery temperament as his commanding keeping during his playing days, the man sometimes referred to as 'The Volcano' knows he may have to dial back that aspect of his personality in the new role.
"Emotionality is extremely important and played an important part for me as a player. However, I have done many other entrepreneurial things in the meantime. Emotionality is not so helpful there. So I'm not going to be slide tackling my way through the meeting room like I did on the pitch."
That will surely be welcomed by many in the corridors of power, as Kahn's appointment has been throughout the club. Slide tackles may no longer be necessary but at Bayern Munich, Kahn knows full well that he must always be on his toes.
Bayern Munich President Uli Hoeness: A reign ends
Almost 50 years after he began playing for them, Uli Hoeness' time at Bayern Munich is drawing to an end. The club president has decided not to run for a new term as president of the German record titleholders.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Balk
Calling it quits
A relationship that began in 1970 when Bayern Munich signed an 18-year-old from TSG Ulm 1846 has come to an end, with Uli Hoeness announcing that he will not run for another term as club president. He shaped one of the most successful eras in German football history. Former Adidas boss Herbert Hainer, who already holds a position with the German champions, is his replacement.
Image: picture-alliance/SvenSimon/F. Hoermann
Goal scorer
Long before current events, Hoeness the player was a forward who was part of the Bayern team that won both the Bundesliga and the European Cup three times. Playing for West Germany, he won both the EuropeanChampionship and the World Cup. For a few years, Hoeness and Gerd Müller formed one of Europe's most potent strike forces. However, his playing career was cut short by a knee injury.
Image: Getty Images
The youngest manager
After an unsuccessful attempt to come back from the injury while on loan to Nuremberg, Hoeness hung up his boots and became the Bundesliga's youngest general manager at the tender age of 27 on May 1, 1979. Here he is pictured with then-Bayern President Willi Hoffmann (left) on this third day on the job – when he got his first victory as manager with Bayern winning 3-1 in Darmstadt.
Image: picture-alliance/S. Simon
A nose for business
Even before Hoeness became manager, he negotiated a deal with truck maker Magirus-Deutz as Bayern's jersey sponsor. The funds allowed Bayern to bring West Germany star Paul Breitner back to Munich from Braunschweig in 1978. Here, Breitner is seen holding up the trophy after Bayern won the 1981 Bundesliga title. The two but have recently fallen out over Breitner's criticism of Bayern's management.
Image: Imago Images/Sportfoto Rudel
A stroke of luck
On February 17, 1982, Uli Hoeness was the sole survivor of the crash of a private jet, while he was on his way to a West German national team friendly. The three other people on board the plane died. Hoeness, who was asleep on the back seat of the plane when it crashed, remembers nothing about it.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Sausage producer
Hoeness, the son of a master butcher, started up the HoWe sausage-making company in Nuremberg in 1985, which now supplies major businesses such as Aldi and McDonalds. HoWe, which is where Hoeness made a lot of his money, has been taken over by his son Florian.
Image: imago/MiS
From manager to president
After 30 years as general manager, on November 27, 2009, Uli Hoeness moved up in the Bayern Munich hierarchy, winning election at the club's annual general meeting as its new president. More success would soon follow, with Bayern doing the double that same season and later, beginning in 2012-13, going on a run of six-straight Bundesliga titles.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/A. Gebert
Personal feud
Hoeness has had his share of personal animosity. A feud with former Cologne and Bayer Leverkusen coach Christoph Daum began when both appeared on a sports talk show. It reached its climax with the cocaine scandal surrounding Daum, who looked set to become Germany coach in 2000. Daum never took up the post after a test on his hair turned up positive for cocaine.
Image: picture-alliance/Alfred Harder
Big winner
Uli Hoeness won his share of silverware as a player, but has won almost countless titles as an executive. In 2013, Bayern Munich won the treble; the Bundesliga title, the German Cup, and the Champions League. "An unbelieveable year," said the top club executive, who was still a free man, despite the fact that a warrant for his arrest on tax-evasion charges had already been issued.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Fall from grace
March 13, 2014: Hoeness was convicted of evading €28.5 million ($32 million) in taxes and was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in jail. Hoeness began serving his sentence on June 2, 2014, making the fall from grace of a German soccer legend complete.
Image: Reuters
President again
A day after his conviction, Uli Hoeness resigned as Bayern president, however he would return to the post two and a half years later, winning election at the club's annual general meeting on November 25, 2016. He was the only candidate after current President Karl Hopfner, who had stood in for him during his time in prison, agreed earlier in the year not to run for re-election.
Image: Getty Images/Bongarts/L. Preiss
A helping hand
Hoeness has always there with a helping hand for a friend in need. Clubs like St. Pauli and even rivals Borussia Dortmund have been known to profit from his generosity. He has also reached out to help former teammates like Gerd Müller, who struggled with alcohol, or players Sebastian Deisler who suffered from burnout and Dietmar Hamman, who was stricken with both alcohol and gambling addictions.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Family man
For the most part, Uli Hoeness keeps his private life to himself. He has been married to his wife Susanne for more than 40 years and his two children, Sabine and Florian are grown up. Hoeness enjoys a quiet life at home, and there have been no known scandals involving his family.
