Arsene Wenger has contradicted a claim by Bayern Munich that they turned him down for the vacant head coach’s job and accused the defending German champions of a lack of discretion.
Bayern are in need of a new coach after Niko Kovac was sacked on Sunday last week with former Germany assistant Hansi Flick appointed interim boss for Wednesday’s win over Olympiakos and Saturday’s home-league game against Borussia Dortmund.
Bayern put out a statement on Thursday claiming that Wenger had called club chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge to express interest in replacing Kovac, but said that the former Arsenal boss had been turned down.
Photo: EPA-EFE
However, Wenger, 70, rejected that version of events and criticized Bayern for leaking “rumors from everywhere.”
“My name came out of nowhere,” Wenger said in an interview with beIN Sports on Friday. “On Wednesday, Rummenigge called me — I called back out of courtesy. We talked for four or five minutes, maximum, and he reported that they signed Flick [as interim coach] for the next two games.”
“He asked me if I would be interested, because they are looking for a coach,” he added.
Wenger said he told Rummenigge that he would think about it and “we decided together” to talk again “next week because I am in Doha until Sunday night. This is the true story.”
After a decade as Bayern’s president, Uli Hoeness is to step down on Friday, and Wenger said that Bayern are at a “turning point” with Rummenigge, who is set to quit as chairman within the coming year.
Between them, Hoeness and Rummenigge have helped Bayern grow into one of the most successful clubs in Europe.
“It seems that the future is uncertain” at Bayern, said Wenger, who added that the German club have always been “very discreet and direct” in the past, “but today [they are] very exposed with rumors coming from everywhere.”
Wenger said he wished Bayern “good luck” in finding a replacement for Kovac.
Other candidates for the vacancy, Paris Saint-Germain boss Thomas Tuchel and Ajax’s Erik ten Hag, already made it clear last week that they would not join Bayern before at least the end of the season.
HOFFENHEIM VS COLOGNE
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim on Friday moved to second place in the Bundesliga as they beat Cologne 2-1 for a club record sixth straight victory in all competitions thanks to Juergen Locadia’s stoppage-time penalty.
Jhon Cordoba opened the scoring for the hosts before Sargis Adamyan and Locadia’s second half efforts lifted Alfred Schreuder two points below leaders Borussia Moenchengladbach.
Schreuder made one change from last weekend’s win over SC Paderborn with Stefan Posch taking Kevin Akpoguma’s place on defense.
Achim Beierlorzer’s side remain in the 17th spot with only two wins all season, despite handing attacker Cordoba just his second league start of the season.
Colombian Cordoba repaid the faith shown in him by the Billy Goats’ coach Beierlorzer to claim his second goal in three appearances.
Attacking midfielder Louis Schaub laid-off to Cordoba at the edge of the box and the 26-year-old struck home.
In-form Hoffenheim responded three minutes into the second half.
Defensive midfielder Sebastian Rudy chipped the ball to the path of Adamyan inside the penalty area and the Armenia winger side-footed on the volley to equalize.
Hoffenheim’s winner came after seven minutes of additional time as Dutch youth international Locadia scored his third goal of the season with a penalty, after referee Robert Kampa had checked the deision with the video assistant referee.
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