Reports from tz and the Münchner Merkur say sporting director Freund has been tasked with finding a successor to Schmadtke for the key position and has identified Christopher Vivell as his preferred candidate.
A Karlsruhe native, the 39-year-old currently oversees the rather unsuccessful scouting operation at Manchester United. He previously worked as chief scout at RB Salzburg, squad planner at RB Leipzig and technical director at Chelsea. Freund and Vivell know each other from their time together in Salzburg.
Interest in Vivell has since cooled, however, according to tz/Münchner Merkur. The reason is reportedly a disagreement between Freund and Max Eberl, the board member for sport who is nominally his superior. Eberl reportedly has doubts about filling another key position at Bayern Munich with someone from the RB sphere.
What is the relationship between Eberl and Freund like at Bayern Munich?
Eberl also has a past with RB. A little over a year after leaving his post as sporting director of Borussia Mönchengladbach for health reasons, he joined RB Leipzig as managing director for sport. The move drew considerable criticism, particularly from Gladbach supporters who had otherwise been well disposed towards him.
After just one and a half years, Eberl left Leipzig amid some controversy. Bayern's board member for sport position had been vacant since Hasan Salihamidzic's departure in May 2023, and Eberl was repeatedly linked with a move to Munich. Eberl and RB Leipzig eventually parted ways at the end of September 2023, with the club citing his "lack of commitment".
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Eberl finally became Bayern Munich's board member for sport in March 2024. Until then, Freund, who had arrived in Munich from RB Salzburg in the summer of 2023, had largely shaped the club's squad planning.
Media reports have recently described their relationship as "strained". kicker was particularly prominent in this regard, writing in April 2026 of a "forced marriage" and several differences between them. Freund, however, firmly denied this.
"That surprised me too," he said at a press conference last summer about reports of possible internal rifts, stressing: "It's enjoyable working together. What matters is how things work internally, and they work very, very well."
Getty ImagesIs Max Eberl the big loser at Bayern Munich following Schmadtke's departure?
On the pitch, the collaboration between Eberl, Freund and manager Vincent Kompany has borne plenty of fruit. Bayern extended both Freund's and Eberl's contracts a few months ago, although Eberl has faced internal scrutiny.
Schmadtke's departure leaves Eberl, in particular, without a trusted ally. Bayern's board member for sport reportedly backed the son of his friend Jörg Schmadtke internally and secured an extension of his appointment until summer 2027. Eberl had brought Schmadtke to Munich in October 2024.
For months, however, Schmadtke's position at Bayern has faced intense internal criticism, and the two parties will now part ways early, at the end of January 2027. Rumours also suggested Schmadtke had leaked internal information from Bayern Munich to the media. The 37-year-old firmly rejected at least those accusations on Thursday evening in a post on LinkedIn.
"I have never passed confidential information to the media. Not in Munich and not anywhere else. I have never put down people under my responsibility," Schmadtke clarified. "I am demanding, and sometimes uncomfortable when it comes to quality. I am not disrespectful. And none of what was written had even the slightest connection to my departure from Bayern Munich. I do not speak publicly about internal matters. I have not done so at any of my previous posts, and that remains the case now."
imago / fohlenfoto