Matthias Sammer has left his post as technical director with the German Football Association (DFB) to perform a similar role Bayern Munich.
German giants unveil their new director of football
Matthias Sammer has left his post as technical director with the German Football Association (DFB) to perform a similar role Bayern Munich.
Club chiefs had decided that Christian Nerlinger should pay the price at an end of the season meeting after missing out on the Bundesliga title to Borussia Dortmund.
But with Sammer part of the DFB coaching team at Euro 2012 the club remained tight-lipped about the decision until the end the tournament.
And now the highly-rated 44-year-old coach will take up his role with immediate effect.
"I would like to express my thanks to Christian Nerlinger for his work over the past four years at FC Bayern," said Bayern president Uli Hoeness. "I hope that our good personal relationship continues to remain intact."
His appointment will heap more pressure on under-fire manager Jupp Heynckes and could be seen as a future manager if the club fail to recruit former Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola as has been widely speculated in the German press.
Passion
Sammer, a former European Footballer of the Year, spent five years as a player with Dortmund, winning the Champions League in 1997 before becoming the youngest ever title-winning coach when he steered the club to the championship back in 2002.
He later coached Stuttgart before joining up with the DFB coaching team in 2006 where he recently signed a contract extension that would keep him as head of youth development for his country until 2016.
"We are deeply sorry to let Matthias Sammer go," said DFB president Wolfgang Niersbach in a statement.
"He has brought a lot of movement into talent development in Germany due to his competence and passion and he has done a great deal of good for the Association with his way of working.
"At the same time, we respect his wish and would not like to stand in the way of his future plans.
"Our close connection to him will remain in the future."
