Bayern Munich chief scout Nils Schmadtke will leave the record champions at the end of January, earlier than planned. The search for his successor is under way, but Max Eberl and Christoph Freund apparently disagree.
As the Münchner Merkur reports, sporting director Freund has been tasked with finding Schmadtke's successor and has identified Christopher Vivell as his preferred candidate.
The 39-year-old Karlsruhe native currently oversees scouting at Manchester United, with limited success, and previously served 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.
But interest in Vivell has since cooled, according to tz/Münchner Merkur. Freund and Eberl, the board member for sport and nominally Freund's superior, are said to disagree. Eberl is reportedly unconvinced about filling another key position at Bayern Munich with someone from the RB sphere.
How do Eberl and Freund get on at Bayern Munich?
Eberl has an RB past of his own. Just over a year after leaving his role as Borussia Mönchengladbach sporting director for health reasons, he joined RB Leipzig as managing director for sport. The move drew considerable criticism, particularly from Gladbach fans who had previously held him in high regard.
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His Leipzig spell lasted just a year and a half and ended amid 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. He and RB Leipzig parted ways at the end of September 2023, after which the club spoke of his "lack of commitment".
Bayern finally appointed Eberl board member for sport in March 2024. Until then, Freund, who had arrived in Munich from RB Salzburg in the summer of 2023, had been chiefly responsible for squad planning.
Media reports have recently described their relationship as "strained". kicker was particularly prominent, writing in April 2026 of a "forced marriage" and several differences between them. Freund firmly denied the reports.
Asked about possible internal rifts at a press conference last summer, Freund said: "That surprised me too," adding: "It's enjoyable working together. What matters is how things work internally, and they work very, very well."
Getty ImagesIs Max Eberl the biggest loser at Bayern Munich following Schmadtke's departure?
On the pitch, the partnership between Eberl, Freund and coach Vincent Kompany has borne plenty of fruit. Bayern extended the contracts of both Freund and Eberl, who has faced considerable internal scrutiny, a few months ago.
Eberl, in particular, loses a trusted associate in Schmadtke. Bayern's board member for sport reportedly backed the son of his friend Jörg Schmadtke internally and secured an extension of his appointment until the summer of 2027. Eberl had brought Schmadtke to Munich in October 2024.
Internally, however, Bayern have viewed Schmadtke's position extremely critically for months, leading to his early departure at the end of January 2027. Rumours also emerged that he had leaked internal Bayern Munich information to the media. The 37-year-old firmly rejected at least those allegations on Thursday evening in a post on LinkedIn.
"I have never passed confidential information to the media. Not in Munich, and nowhere else. I have never belittled people under my responsibility," Schmadtke made clear. "I am demanding, and uncomfortable too 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 the places I have worked, and that remains the case now."
imago / fohlenfoto