Karl-Heinz Rummenigge rules Hansi Flick out of running for Germany job
By Ross Jackson
Bayern Munich chief Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has ruled Hansi Flick out of the running to replace Joachim Low as manager of the German national team.
Low recently announced that he would be stepping down from the role after this summer's European Championships, bringing to an end a 15-year reign that has elevated Die Mannschaft back to the very top of international football and yielded World Cup success.
Flick has been in charge of Bayern for less than 18 months, having originally taken over from Niko Kovac on an interim basis in November 2019.
Since being handed the job full time, he has overseen triumphs in no fewer than six competitions -including the Bundesliga, Champions League and Club World Cup. Now, Rummenigge has moved to immediately quash rumours that Flick could move on and fill the void left by Low.
"This has nothing to do with probability, it's a fact," Rummenigge told newspaper Welt am Sonntag in an interview, when asked if Flick would remain at Bayern beyond the end of the season.
"I told Hansi that we are very happy with him, and that we would be well advised to fulfil our contractual agreement. I made that unmistakably clear."
Rummenigge poured further cold water on the chances of Flick leaving by confirming he has already held talks with the German FA regarding the soon-to-be vacant manager's post. In that meeting, he was told by DFB president Fritz Keller that managers currently under contract at a club will not be considered at this time.
With Flick effectively ruled out of the race to take over, speculation will now intensify over other potential candidates who fit Germany's hiring criteria.
Big-name managers like Liverpool's Jurgen Klopp and RB Leipzig's Julian Nagelsmann have been linked with the job over the past few weeks, but Rummenigge's revelation would indicate that both would also be ruled out of contention unless they opted to walk away from their clubs.
Current Germany Under-21 manager Stefan Kuntz is a likely frontrunner as the German FA potentially look to promote from within - having done so when Low was appointed back in 2006 - while Ralf Rangnick and Jurgen Klinsmann could also be in contention.