Following on from recent reports that Bayern Munich is set to release chief scout Markus Pilawa, it seems that, according to Florian Plettenberg the club has found their replacement in Borussia Mönchengladbach’s Nils Schmadtke:
Nils Schmadtke is on the verge to become the new overall chief scout of FC Bayern to replace Markus Pilawa. Schmadtke is expected to sign a two-year contract. Max Eberl was determined to bring Schmadtke to Bayern.
Nils is the son of Jörg Schmadtke, who has been working as a sporting executive in German football for over 20 years and even had a brief stint at Liverpool FC until earlier this year. @iMiaSanMia captures Philipp Kessler confirming this report, while offering some context:
Nils Schmadtke is expected to replace Markus Pilawa as Bayern chief scout. Pilawa was appointed by Salihamidžić and Neppe in 2022. Before that he spent 10 years in Dortmund where he was instrumental in signing the likes of [Jadon] Sancho and [Jude] Bellingham. Pilawa also played a role in the transfer of Michael Olise to Bayern in the summer. Nevertheless, Eberl and Freund have other ideas about the personnel.
Schmadtke, most recently Gladbach sporting director, was head of the scouting department at [VFL] Wolfsburg from October 2020 to summer 2023. At that time, the club signed the likes of Micky van de Ven and Felix Nmecha. Schmadtke and Eberl have known each other from their time together in Gladbach. Their paths are now set to cross again at FC Bayern.
Of course, comparing the signings of Sancho, Bellingham and Olise to the ones of van de Ven and Nmecha is misleading, considering the disparity in resources between Dortmund and Bayern to Wolfsburg. And the time Schmadtke and Eberl spent together in ‘Gladbach amounted to one year between 2019 and 2020 as a regular scout. Apparently, that year was enough for Eberl to be completely convinced by Schmadtke.
But Schmadtke may not be the only new hire at Bayern. André Hechelmann may be joining the club as well:
Bayern are restructuring the club’s scouting department. After parting ways with chief scout Markus Pilawa, Max Eberl and Christoph Freund are pushing ahead with the personnel changes. Nils Schmadtke, who is set to replace Pilawa as chief scout, could get support from André Hechelmann, former Schalke technical and sporting director as well as Mainz chief scout. At the moment, Hechelmann is just being considered for a role at Bayern, among other names
Hechelmann took up important sporting positions at Schalke 04 from 2021 to 2024, which is perhaps not the best job advert as the famous club lurched from one crisis to another.
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