In his new role as sports director of record champions Bayern Munich, Christoph Freund wants to focus primarily on the development of young players.
“We have to manage this balancing act so that we can introduce our own talents to the first team and still get better,” said the 46-year-old at his presentation in Munich on Wednesday.
Freund, who is moving to Munich after a total of 17 years at Red Bull Salzburg, did not want to rule out possible transfers from mature top stars such as star striker Harry Kane. “The most important thing is that we are successful,” said the Austrian: “One thing doesn’t exclude the other. It will also be the case in the future that we will bring really good top stars to us.” The most important thing is “the mix”.
Freund will take up his new position on Friday; Bayern had already made his commitment official in mid-July. He was “not involved” in the summer transfers of Kane, Min-Jae Kim and Co., he emphasized, but praised that the Munich team “did it really well in the transfer window”.
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FC Bayern: Christoph Freund gets praise from Jan-Christian Dreesen
On Saturday, CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen emphasized Freund’s “excellent reputation”, especially in the areas of “scouting and talent development”. At Bayern Freund succeeds Hasan Salihamidzic, who was released at the end of last season – but only as sports director, not as sports director
An early promotion does not play a role in his career plans, Freund asserted: “I’m concentrating on the content, everything else will come.” And Dreesen also pleaded that the new sporting director should first “let him start working. We want to have a top season together with him and then we’ll see how it goes.”
