Master coach bound until 2026
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“At least until the 2026 World Cup,” said DFB sports director Rudi Völler recently, the association wants to keep Sandro Wagner as assistant coach to national coach Julian Nagelsmann. The 36-year-old ex-professional had previously been linked to his former club TSG 1899 Hoffenheim. The next interested party is apparently double winner Bayer 04 Leverkusen, where Wagner, alongside Sebastian Hoeneß from VfB Stuttgart, is a candidate to succeed Xabi Alonso should he leave the Werkself. “Sky” reported this on Monday evening.
There are “always one or two requests,” said Völler about Wagner: “But Sandro feels very comfortable with us and thrives in his role.” The former striker himself, only as a U20 assistant coach since the summer of 2023 by Hannes Wolf and has now been active with the men’s senior national team at the German Football Association for around 13 months, said: “It’s often been the case that you have contacts here and there or talk to one or the other. But currently I have a great job that I enjoy. I don’t think that far into the future. I’m a young coach who wants to develop and I’m in a really good place right now with some really great people.”
Hoeneß has an exit clause at VfB Stuttgart – Xabi Alonso to Man City?
Wagner is still tied to the DFB until the World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico, so a transfer fee would probably be due if he moved earlier. This also applies to Hoeneß, who was already considered Alonso’s successor and at FC Bayern in the spring. Like many of his professionals, the 42-year-old also has an exit clause with the Swabians. This was confirmed by his father and advisor Dieter Hoeneß in a “double pass” on “Sport1” in mid-May.
The implementation of this was also about creating the conditions for successful work by the club and about “protecting the coach to a certain extent”. Because experience shows that a club “has not done the best thing to give the coach the tools to be really successful. Based on this experience, we decided to include an exit clause.”
It is currently unclear whether Alonso will even want to leave Leverkusen next summer. The 42-year-old Spaniard’s contract, like Wagner’s, is valid until 2026. Real Madrid has been considered a possible next destination for Alonso for some time. In England he was also recently brought into play as the successor to his former Bayern coach Pep Guardiola at Manchester City should he not extend his expiring contract.
