Bayern Munich CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge set to step down in summer

Bayern Munich will be having a big change in the leadership group of the club this summer. The German Champions have confirmed that Karl-Heinz Rummenigge will step down from his position at the end of June. Rummenigge was initially expected to leave his position at the end of 2021, but the move has been brought forward.

Rummenigge has been part of the board at Bayern Munich since 1991. He excelled as a player in Bavaria and also helped the club to achieve success when he took a position at the board level. Over the years, Rummenigge has played a decisive role in big and successful decisions made at the club.

Oliver Kahn is set to succeed Rummenigge in this role. The former German goalkeeper has been lined up as his replacement for some time. He has been working at the board level for more than a year to be well prepared for replacing Rummenigge.

Kahn has a huge task ahead to fill the boots of Rummenigge, but working with him in the last 12 months will help the former German goalkeeper to ease into this position. Kahn will officially take up this position on July 1. However, Kahn will be making key decisions before the official date as Die Roten looks to strengthen the squad for next season.

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The departure of Rummenigge will mean that a new era will begin at the board level from next season. Uli Hoeness had stepped down as President of Bayern at the end of 2019. Former Adidas chief Herbert Hainer had replaced Hoeness in this role. Hoeness and Rummenigge together worked brilliantly for years to make sure that Die Roten remains one of the best clubs in Europe.

Hoeness still has a periphery role at the board level, but he is not part of the decision-making group. Rummenigge is likely to have a similar role at the club after leaving the post of CEO. Kahn and Hainer will now be the face of the club at the board level. The German duo will have the onus of starting a new successful era at the club.

Along with Hainer and Kahn, Die Roten had also promoted former player and Sporting Director Hasan Salihamidzic to the board. Salihamidzic has been operating as the sporting director since returning to the club in 2017.

Since Rummenigge was leaving in the summer, it was not a surprise to see Salihamidzic and Kahn playing a big role in finding the replacement for first-team coach Hansi Flick. They successfully negotiated with RB Leipzig to bring promising young coach Julian Nagelsmann to the club. Kahn and Salihamidzic also face a tough summer due to a tight budget as a consequence of the pandemic.