On the Sky programme 'Sammer & Basile - der Hagedorn-Talk', Sammer first praised the 39-year-old: "If I were in a position of responsibility and had to deal with the fact that I needed a coach, I would look at him intensively." He then immediately added a caveat: "But with none of the others around him. Only with him."
Nagelsmann is "a first-class expert. He did very well at Hoffenheim. He did very well at Leipzig. But sometimes he lacked the final step - including in Munich."
When Riccardo Basile asked whether "those around him" meant Nagelsmann's advisory agency, Sammer replied: "Yes, of course. You asked me whether he has a future in Germany. He certainly has the qualities." However, the 1996 European champion said Nagelsmann should learn that "a lot of things have to bounce off him". He must "not make many things an issue at all", but instead "concentrate on the essentials. And I would consider it a disgrace for our country if we were to lose such a gifted coach somewhere."
Sports 360, the agency of star adviser Volker Struth, represents Nagelsmann. Its clients also include the Germany internationals Angelo Stiller (VfB Stuttgart) and Tom Bischof (Bayern Munich). He started his coaching career in professional football at Hoffenheim in 2016 and moved to RB Leipzig in 2019. Two years later he joined Bayern Munich, where they surprisingly sacked him at the start of 2023 and replaced him with Thomas Tuchel.
Following Hansi Flick's departure from the DFB, Nagelsmann took over as Germany coach in the same year. Around the respectable home Euros in 2024, he enjoyed strong approval ratings in Germany, but they then fell rapidly and hit their low point after the botched World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico. Nagelsmann left the DFB under gentle pressure from the federation leadership and is currently out of work.
What exactly does Matthias Sammer advise Julian Nagelsmann to do?
"I would advise him to seek out a football sage and speak with him," said former DFB sporting director Sammer about a possible next step for Nagelsmann. The former Germany internationals Lothar Matthäus, Stefan Effenberg and Dietmar Hamann came to mind: "Now people can say again that it is dangerous because they are also in the public eye. But out there there are also older coaches, a Friedhelm Funkel, just as an example. Wise, and everyone please forgive me, old people, who no longer have any feeling that they need to present themselves, but instead want to pass something on with their wealth of experience - that is what I would advise him to do."
Getty ImagesFor Sammer, that input would carry more weight than anything from Nagelsmann's advisory agency: "I have been observing him for a long time. He should speak with someone who no longer has any interests of their own in such a conversation, but who simply tells him things as they are. The point is not what was all wrong or right. It is often about the effects. So that a process is set in motion in which a first-class quality can grow there - that is what I would wish for him."