Max Eberl draw the right conclusions at Bayern Munich from Uli Hoeneß's attacks - and are rightly rewarded

Max Eberl's contract as Bayern Munich's board member for sport has been extended - and he has earned it. Not only because he is doing his job as squad planner well, but also because he has drawn the right conclusions from Uli Hoeneß's attacks. A comment.

Hours before the cup final against VfB Stuttgart, the match that ultimately sealed Bayern Munich's most successful year since 2020, one issue suddenly dominated at the German record champions. In an interview with Der Spiegel, Uli Hoeneß, opinionated as ever, voiced his "doubts" about the work of the board member for sport appointed at the start of 2024. The chances of extending Max Eberl's contract, which still runs until 2027, were put at "60:40".

Those appearances underline the power the club patron still wields at FCB, even years after his official "withdrawal" from day-to-day operations. Hoeneß's move, questionable from a human point of view, also clearly affected Eberl. Even so, after winning the final he turned to gallows humour of his own accord and then gave an authentic, assured performance. "My skin has become thick," he stressed in a remarkable response. Once again. Just as he had in the weeks and months before. That run ended with his contract extension until 2029 on Tuesday.

Eberl has undergone a clear development. His spells at Gladbach and Leipzig had already shown that he knows and understands the business. At Säbener Straße, though, things work differently. Alongside the day-to-day job, he also has to keep the powerful supervisory board happy, namely Hoeneß and former chief executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. Above all, Hoeneß has to be satisfied.

This is the same man who around a year ago on "Doppelpass" described Eberl as too soft, too selfish and too wasteful with hard-earned money. Since then the tide has turned, as Hoeneß himself suggested at the start of pre-season in Tegernsee. He even apologised to Eberl in person for his remarks on the sidelines of the cup final and, just two months later, raised the chances of further working together to "100 per cent".

Eberl has thoroughly earned the fact that it has now actually happened. He has not only withstood the immense pressure, including that applied by Hoeneß. The 52-year-old has also, and this matters most in his role, assembled a squad that with the perfect coaching appointment can be trusted to deliver maximum success. All the more so because, despite complicated conditions and strict instructions from above, Nathaniel Brown and Ismael Saibari significantly improved the team again in both depth and quality.

Repeated accusations: how Max Eberl earned his new standing at Bayern Munich

With both new signings, Eberl acted early, entirely in line with Hoeneß's wishes, to get the deals wrapped up and still showed a delicate touch in pricing policy. As Sport Bild recently reported, after the cup final he also increasingly sought closeness to the 74-year-old and Rummenigge. The club's two leading figures had previously missed regular exchanges. That shortfall had been evident before, for example in the handling of Thomas Müller. Eberl had more or less left the veteran to decide for himself whether to stay, before Hoeneß then publicly claimed the opposite. Or when Eberl announced a prompt contract extension for Leroy Sane, only to then have to let the Germany international leave on a free transfer after all.

Still, the full truth is that the road to this shift in Eberl's standing was rocky. Vincent Kompany was, as is well known, not the first, second or even third choice of the Bayern hierarchy around Eberl, who had even wanted to persuade Thomas Tuchel to stay after the separation agreed weeks earlier.

Yet Eberl was also the one who always had the Belgian on his list and eventually got his way after the avalanche of rejections. At least Hoeneß acknowledged that as early as the end of last year. "Max Eberl deserves the credit for that. He first put Vincent forward in our discussions and then got him too," Hoeneß said, only to stress again in May that Eberl had actually wanted to bring Tuchel back first.

Luck also played a part in the case of Luis Diaz, the marquee signing of last summer. Before that, the Munich club had missed out on Florian Wirtz, while planned alternatives such as Nico Williams, Xavi Simons or Christopher Nkunku were not feasible or were rejected by the supervisory board. Once again, though, Eberl took charge and hit the bullseye. Critics who complained about the overall package of age and transfer fee have long since gone quiet.

The decision to sign Nicolas Jackson on loan for a horrendous fee was certainly wrong. But the deal had also been preceded by a loan instruction from Hoeneß, probably only once the injury-prone Kingsley Coman had already been flogged off to Saudi Arabia for €25 million, even though the attack still absolutely needed greater depth.

The unnecessary and overpriced signing of Joao Palhinha had already been set in motion before Eberl arrived, after he had been promised a move following the collapsed transfer a year earlier. Even so, Ebert is still making the maximum out of the situation with the impending move to Benfica Lisbon. A satisfactory solution is also in sight for Bryan Zaragoza, which would mark the next step in the wage savings he demanded.

This summer, Daniel Peretz and Alexander Nübel were also sold for respectable sums, just as Mathys Tel and Adam Aznou were the year before, while after Müller, high earners Leon Goretzka and Raphael Guerreiro have also dropped off the wage bill with the expiry of their contracts.

The accusation that Eberl made too many concessions to Jamal Musiala, Alphonso Davies and Dayot Upamecano in their costly contract extensions is only partly justified as well. While the latter took a big step towards absolute world-class level last season, with Musiala and Davies it was naturally impossible to foresee in terms of form that both would suffer from such physical complaints.

Control from above? Max Eberl is apparently losing responsibilities at Bayern Munich

Against the removal of deadwood and the right, or at least understandable, decisions in squad planning, there remains the recurring issue that the powerful body around Hoeneß had its problems with Eberl and may soon have them again.

In Munich, even a small sporting crisis is known to have serious consequences. The fact that Eberl is reportedly set to lose responsibilities at the Campus and that confidants such as Markus Weinzierl had to go, or in the case of Nils Schmadtke still have to go, also leaves a sour taste. So does the alleged introduction in the summer of a new transfer committee which, according to the Abendzeitung, is always in contact with Eberl.

For the next few years, Eberl will still have to deal with the committee's controlling hand and Hoeneß's sharp tongue. By now, though, he is getting better and better at handling both without neglecting his actual job or losing his feel for the market. The new contract is the justified reward for that.

Max Eberl at Bayern Munich: the arrivals at a glance