The story Bayern Munich campus director Jochen Sauer and the club just does not seem to end, no matter how dramatic it may be and how both parties don’t really seem too desperate to keep it going.
Sauer has now extended his contract for an unspecified period of time. The confirmation article also stated that, in addition to retaining his current job, Sauer will also be in charge of the business ventures of Red and Gold Football, the joint venture with LAFC that is meant to promote young talents.
This will now be the second time in Sauer’s six years that there was a last minute turnaround in negotiations and that Sauer renews his stay in Bavaria, after it happened once in 2020. In fact, this time Sauer’s contract had expired for seven days before the renewal was finally made official.
Bayern have never entirely been convinced by Sauer and have been looking for an upgrade for many years now. In fact, Halil Altintop arrived in March and assumed a lot of Sauer’s duties in the short time he has been here. Additionally, Sauer seemed ready to move on and look for a new experience. Everything seemed set for Sauer to leave. But now he not only signs a new deal and retains his old hob, but gains additional power and responsibility by running Red and Gold Football? How does that make sense?
BFW Analysis
For now, this is pure speculation. But it does seem as if Sauer has been demoted from campus director, despite it officially being his title, and been put almost exclusively in charge of Red and Gold Football. As previously stated, Halil Altintop has essentially become campus director in the short time he has been here and there is no reason for Bayern to change that.
It’s likely that Altintop will still run things behind the scenes, while Bayern wants an experienced leader, who knows the campus and Bayern’s expectations, in charge of Red and Gold Football. That’s, presumably, why both parties were okay with the U-Turn. Bayern needed Sauer’s experience and Sauer gets to be in charge of a brand new project and experience a brand new venture.
Though how long this cooperation will last, we shall see. There is likely a reason Bayern did not make the length of the extension official. As he has been since 2017, it seems as if Sauer is still just a short term solution until Bayern finds a more suitable candidate.
