24 March 2023 , 20:36
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Bayern Munich's players were worried about media leaks when former manager Julian Nagelsmann started dating journalist Lena Wurzenberger, it has been claimed.
Nagelsmann, who took over at the Allianz Arena in 2021, has been sacked by the reigning Bundesliga champions. Bayern have a chance to move top of the table with a victory over Borussia Dortmund in their next league game, but that wasn't enough to save the former RB Leipzig manager, with Thomas Tuchel taking his place.
Bayern chief Oliver Kahn insisted the appointment of Nagelsmann was made with long-term plans in mind. However, amid various reports around the boss' relationship with his squad, the Champions League quarter-finalists have decided to act ahead of their last-eight meeting with Manchester City.
Bild, the newspaper where Wurzenberger worked as a reporter, moved her off Bayern duties upon learning she was in a relationship with the Bundesliga side's manager. She has since left the role, with Bild's publisher Axel Springer saying in a statement: "We have complied with [her request to leave] and wish her every success in the future."
According to former Germany and Liverpool defender Markus Babbel, though, there was a "lack of trust" among some players owing to the relationship between the manager and the journalist. While there are no suggestions of improper behaviour, Babbel suggested the situation didn't go down well with Bayern's star-studded squad.
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"I know that Nagelsmann's relationship with a BILD reporter was a huge topic in the dressing room," Babbel told Blick (via The Mail). "It didn't go down well at all that he was with her. His girlfriend was therefore a big problem for Bayern.
"There was a lack of trust because some players just weren't able to communicate what they were thinking anymore. Because they were afraid that everything would end up in the newspaper."
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Julian Nagelsmann lasted less than two years in the Bayern job (AFP via Getty Images)After leaving Bayern, Nagelsmann has been linked with the Tottenham Hotspur job. He departs having led his team to the Bundesliga title by an eight-point margin last term, and with a 100 per cent record in this season's Champions League.
"When we signed Julian Nagelsmann for FC Bayern in the summer of 2021, we were convinced we would work with him on a long-term basis - and that was the goal of all of us right up to the end," Kahn said after the dismissal. "Julian shares our aspiration to play successful and attractive football.
"But now we have come to the conclusion that the quality in our squad - despite the Bundesliga title last year - has come to the fore less and less often. After the World Cup we have played less successfully and less attractively.
"The big fluctuations in performance have cast doubt on our goals for this season, but also our goals for the future. That is why we have acted now."