Former Bayern Munich Star Names His Choice to Become Club's Long-Term Successor to Carlo Ancelotti

BT Sport pundit Owen Hargreaves believes Hoffenheim manager Julian Nagelsmann is the right man to take over as manager of Bayern Munich following the sacking of Carlo Ancelotti.

Speaking exclusively to 90min, the former Bayern midfielder claimed that caretaker Jupp Heynckes was the "perfect short-term solution" to step in following the Italian's departure, but that Nagelsmann had earned his chance to take over at the Allianz Arena following his excellent work with the Bundesliga outfit.

Nagelsmann took charge of the club at 28, and has only recently turned 30, but while seeing it as a potential issue, Hargreaves doesn't believe it should stop Bayern making the move.

He said of the next Bayern boss: "All eyes are on Julian Nagelsmann at Hoffenheim. He's 30 and younger than some of the players and everybody says he's too young, but he's been managing since he was 20. 

"He took over Hoffenheim and they were relegation (candidates), kept them up and last season guided them in to Europe - and they just missed out on Champions League qualification against Liverpool. But to do that with the group of players he had at Hoffenheim, imagine what he could do with a group of players at Bayern Munich.

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"For Uli Hoeness and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, the only issue is age. But I remember Hoeness once said to me, 'there's no such thing as old or young, only good or bad'. Nagelsmann is just that good - and he's proven it in his short body of work. I'd be surprised if it was anyone else."

Hargreaves admitted too that during his playing career, players may have had an issue with a coach being younger than them, but he believes times have changed and the current Bayern squad would be happy under him so long as the manager's methods worked.

He added: "Ten years ago, no chance on earth. In my generation players were told what to do and you listened, they didn't ask questions. Now, coaches have technically and tactically improved, there's more content, there's more information and social media has impacted the way coaches have to reach players as well. 

"Nagelsmann says it himself, a lot of it is about the connection to the players and getting them to play for you. Players initially think 'how on earth is this guy in charge, he's too young' but if he's making you a better player, then the players will love it. We all want to get better and look good.

"If he can put good attacking players in better positions and play in the right way, they'll love it."

Bayern's first game under the returning Heynckes took place at the weekend - beating Freiburg 5-0 - to take them to within two points of league leaders Borussia Dortmund after an initially poor start. Ancelotti lost his job because of it, but Hargreaves admitted that the right man had taken his place for the remainder of the season.

He said: "Manuel Neuer is a big miss for them. The start of the season has got away from them but I just think there's far too much quality there. Obviously with Jupp Heynckes coming in, he knows the club in and out, the players love him. For the short-term, it's a perfect solution."

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