"Because one or two people still wanted to splash out 100 or 150 million": Uli Hoeneß reveals details of a massive row at FC Bayern – with the focus on a blocked star signing

Bayern’s club chairman stopped short of naming names, but his remarks almost certainly pointed to sporting director Max Eberl. Despite the club’s on-field success, Eberl is reported to be increasingly controversial internally. German magazine kicker recently described his relationship with sporting director Christoph Freund as a “forced marriage”.

Last summer, Eberl is said to have pressed the supervisory board—led by former president Hoeneß—for expensive attacking signings after the departures of Leroy Sané (Galatasaray) and Kingsley Coman (Al-Nassr). However, according to Hoeneß, the senior players ultimately prevailed: “If you want to give the youngsters a chance, you have to make room for them. If we’d signed another two or three players for €100–150 million, the coach would have had to play them.”

Eberl had pushed hard to sign Xavi Simons, seeing the Dutchman as extra firepower and width for the attack. In the end, though, Hoeneß and his colleagues insisted that, instead of splashing out on more big names, the club should back its own young talent.

Hoeneß reiterated this stance to manager Vincent Kompany during a face-to-face meeting at Lake Tegernsee. “He travelled there with Christoph Freund and kept saying, ‘Uli, we need Xavi, we need him,’” Hoeneß recalled. “I had an apple pie on the table and told him, ‘Vincent, you can have another slice, but you’re not getting Xavi. We want you to play the young players.’ And he did exactly that.”

Instead of moving to Munich, Simons left RB Leipzig for Tottenham Hotspur at the end of August last year in a €65 million deal. As is well known, the 22-year-old is having a season to forget. With six matchdays left, the club sits 18th in the Premier League, two points from safety. Simons has contributed only four goals and five assists in 39 appearances across all competitions for the London side.

At Bayern, young talent Lennart Karl has enjoyed extensive game time this season partly because Simons did not join the club, avoiding direct competition with another high-profile signing. Currently sidelined with a torn muscle fibre, the teenager made headlines for his bold outfit during the recent clash with Real Madrid. Having progressed through Bayern’s youth setup since 2022, he broke into the first team at the start of the current campaign. The 18-year-old has scored nine goals and provided seven assists in 35 appearances, made his Germany debut in March, and is now in the frame for World Cup selection.

Three other academy graduates—Aleksandar Pavlovic, Josip Stanisic and Jamal Musiala—are already playing key roles for the German record champions, and Kompany has since promoted several more homegrown talents. David Santos Daiber (19), Deniz Ofli (19), Maycon Cardozo (17), Cassiano Kiala (17), and the two 16-year-olds Filip Pavic and Erblin Osmani have all already made their professional debuts.

By leaning more heavily on home-grown talent, Bayern aims to cut costs while reclaiming its identity. Whether Eberl will stay on to help shape that direction is uncertain. Freund, by contrast, is expected to remain and take a bigger role in youth development, while Eberl’s future looks less secure.

At the end of May, Bayern’s supervisory board—featuring Hoeneß, former CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and president Herbert Hainer—will meet again. According to kicker, one item on the agenda is whether to extend the contracts of Eberl and Freund, both of which run until 2027.