Niko Kovac is allowed to stay, Jerome Boateng should leave – the day after the double victory the bosses of FC Bayern speak plain language. However, two further personnel questions remain unanswered – still.
The Marienplatz was full. Fuller than in previous years. Around 15,000 onlookers gathered at the Munich City Hall on Sunday afternoon to cheer their doubles winners in summer temperatures. However, these appeared a good half an hour later than expected. The main reason for this was a street festival in the Schwabing district, which blocked the direct route to Marienplatz for the Bavarian bus.
The mood among the longingly waiting fans was not only limited at first. Neither the newly produced pop club anthem – a marketing mixture based on German, English and Spanish vocals for car tuning lovers – nor two men with guitars who tried to cover the Deichkind song “Remmidemmi” could really get the masses going.
This was made possible by someone who had maneuvered his way into the hearts of most fans by the evening before at the latest: Niko Kovac.
With an emotional thank-you speech, the Bayern coach triggered an almost as big outburst of joy as the legendary oldies Franck Ribery, Arjen Robben and Rafinha, who said goodbye one last time with a laughing and one crying eye. With the words “Stay as you are, I love you all” Kovac rounded off a perfect week for the record champion, but above all for himself.
Kovac had won the two title-bringing finals of his exhausting premiere year at the Isar against Eintracht Frankfurt (5:1) and RB Leipzig (3:0) with a lot of heart, but also with a lot of football impressively.
President Uli Hoeneß gave Kovac a “one hundred percent” job guarantee at Sky, while CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge asserted that he had “never” questioned the Berlin-born player and had only waited so many weeks with a confession of fidelity because he wanted to keep up the tension in the double fight.
It was the day of clear words at FC Bayern. Because the executive floor of the club also confessed to the future of Jerome Boateng. But with a slightly different tenor than Kovac. Hoeneß almost suggested to the disgraced central defender that he look for a new employer in a departmental attack manner. Boateng, who had been flushed silently into the cabin after the award ceremony on Saturday evening, was now only seen as a “foreign body” by the people of Munich and should rather sniff “other air” from the coming season onwards.
The ex-national player, who after all played a not insignificant part in the triple triumph in 2013, is thus threatened with a quiet farewell without any honour. Through the back door, James Rodriguez could also pull away. The club’s commitment to Pro Kovac is unlikely to play into the hands of the Colombians. Rummenigge, however, once again made it clear that no decision had yet been made in the causa.
The Bavarians have until 15 June to commit the loan from Real Madrid firmly for 42 million euros or send it back to the Spanish capital. Although the 27-year-old himself smilingly fulfilled every photo and autograph request of the fans before and after the double celebration in the backyard of the Munich City Hall, he made a thoughtful and almost absent impression on the balcony like Boateng.
Sports Director Hasan Salihamidzic has recently announced several times that there will be one or two departures alongside Ribery, Robben and Rafinha. Finally, space had to be created for new players to continue the upheaval on Säbener Strasse. Leroy Sane is at the top of the list of Bavarian bosses as a possible new addition to the outer lanes.
Both Hoeneß and Rummenigge, however, stated that it would be “difficult” to get the Manchester City national player off the ground. “We’ll do our best, but I can’t predict here today how this will end. But of course that would be a great transfer,” Rummenigge said.
In terms of squad planning for the new season, Salihamidzic is “called upon to start tomorrow”, Hoeneß announced.
