Pochettino tipped to replace Heynckes at Bayern Munich
BERLIN: Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has been linked to Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich as a possible replacement for Jupp Heynckes next season.
According to reports, Bayern’s director of sport Hasan Salihamidzic has recommended Pochettino to club bosses KarlHeinz Rummenigge and Uli Hoeness. Current head coach Heynckes, 72, has implied he will leave at the end of the season and magazine Sport Bild claims Salihamidzic has approached the Spurs boss.
“I know that Bayern have contacted Mauricio Pochettino,” Sky pundit Didier Hamann told the German magazine. “He was an option and possibly still is.”
Bayern had been thought to want to hire a German-speaking coach. “That doesn’t have to be the case, if we said that we would automatically close a door — and it’s not closed,” Salihamidzic has said on the matter.
Other possible candidates to succeed Heynckes include ex-Borussia Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel, currently without a club, and RB Leipzig handler Ralph Hasenhuettl.
IBRAHIMOVIC JOINS LOS ANGELES GALAXY
LOS ANGELES: Zlatan Ibrahimovic said he is ready to win silverware with Los Angeles Galaxy after a full-page advert in Friday’s LA Times confirmed his move to the MLS club from Manchester United.
The advert, in which Ibrahimovic was pictured in the white Galaxy kit, carried a message from the 36-year-old saying ‘Dear Los Angeles, you’re welcome’.
He becomes the latest highprofile player to move to the MLS in the latter part of his career — following the likes of David Beckham, Steven Gerrard, Thierry Henry and Frank Lampard.
Former England captian Beckham won the MLS Cup twice after joining Galaxy in 2007 and became an iconic figure for the growth of the game in a country hooked on more traditional American sports like NFL and baseball.
GERMAN CLUBS VOTE TO KEEP VAR
BERLIN: Bundesliga clubs on Thursday voted to keep using the video assistant referee (VAR) and to retain the hotly-debated ‘50+1’ rule — essentially curbing outside investment.
Despite considerable teething problems — confusion about why decisions are made and lengthy delays — Germany’s top 18 clubs unanimously voted to keep the VAR for next season with only one abstention.
Also at the meeting in Frankfurt, the 36 professional teams in Germany’s top two tiers voted to retain the 50+1 rule, which ensures clubs retain a majority share to prevent outside investors taking control. The rule has been hotly debated amidst fears Bundesliga clubs are losing ground to their rivals in France, England, Italy and Spain, where outside investors can provide massive funding.
The German Football League (DFL) had wanted the future of the ‘50+1’ rule to be discussed at the Frankfurt meeting.