Lahm to retire in June and leave Bayern: report
The German will leave the Bundesliga leaders having rejected a role as sports director
Berlin (AFP) – Bayern Munich’s captain Philipp Lahm will retire at the end of the season and leave the Bundesliga leaders having rejected a role as sports director, according to a report.
German magazine Sport Bild says in its Wednesday edition the 33-year-old, who made his 500th appearance for Bayern last Saturday, will hang up his boots in June — despite having a year left on his contract.
He has apparently also rejected the vacant sports director role because it would not have included a place on Bayern’s board following recent restructuring at the club.
Lahm has reportedly already told Bayern of his decision.
Chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge had hinted last November that the club wanted Lahm to fill the role vacated by Matthias Sammer last year.
Borussia Moenchengladbach’s sports director Max Eberl is now reportedly the favourite to take the job.
Lahm retired from international football after captaining Germany to the 2014 World Cup title in Brazil.
He joined Bayern as an 11-year-old in 1995 and skippered the Bavarian giants to their 2013 Champions League win at Wembley.
That season, they became the first German club to complete the treble of Champions League, Bundesliga and German Cup.
He has won the Bundesliga seven times and the German Cup on a further six occasions.
