“I had an agreement with him” – Uli Hoeneß claims Klopp wanted to become Bayern coach

Uli Hoeneß claims Jürgen Klopp agreed to become Bayern Munich coach in the past, but the club ultimately chose Jürgen Klinsmann instead.

Jürgen Klopp’s agent, Marc Kosicke, recently revealed in an interview with Transfermarkt that his client nearly became Bayern Munich coach back in 2008, while he was still at Mainz.

According to Bayern supervisory board member Uli Hoeneß, who was the club’s president at the time, he even had an agreement with Klopp.

However, then-CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge preferred Jürgen Klinsmann, and Bayern ultimately went with him.

“I already had an agreement with [Klopp],” Hoeneß told Bild.

“I called him when he was still in Mainz and asked, ‘Can you imagine coaching FC Bayern?’ And he replied, ‘Yes, of course.’ But in the end, we decided on Jürgen Klinsmann, who was proposed by Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.”

Instead, Klopp went on to coach Borussia Dortmund for seven years before moving to Liverpool.

Kosicke added that Klopp, currently Red Bull’s Head of Soccer, was considered again by Bayern in 2019 following Kovac’s dismissal, but Hansi Flick was given the job after a successful spell as interim coach.

“I don’t see why it shouldn’t have worked. Jürgen enjoys pretzels and had Erdinger as a partner for wheat beer. He has always worked with strong personalities. I wouldn’t have seen any problem there,” Kosicke told Transfermarkt.

“Bayern came very close to hiring us twice. Once in 2008: Uli Hoeneß wanted Jürgen Klopp, but Karl-Heinz Rummenigge preferred Jürgen Klinsmann. And after Niko Kovac, Jürgen – by then at Liverpool – was also approached. Nobody expected things to be so successful with Hansi Flick. There simply was never the right momentum.”

Bulinews.com traveled to Leipzig in January to speak with Jürgen Klopp about his current role at Red Bull. Read the full interview here.