With Bayern Munich’s summer transfer business a hot topic of conversation, the Rekordmeister may already have got the key signature they wanted prior to the upcoming transfer window. Technical director Marco Neppe has secretly already signed a new contract with the club meaning the man behind the scenes can carry on his excellent work. So just who is Marco Neppe?
Bayern’s management of the team beyond the coach usually gets cited as Oliver Kahn and Hasan Salihamidzic working as some kind of double act, but there are key movers and shakers that don’t always grab the headlines like the former pros do. This is where Marco Neppe comes in.
While both Kahn and Salihamidzic might have cause to be worried ahead of the club’s next meeting of the Supervisory Board on May 30, Neppe need not be concerned that his work is under scrutiny with a new contract already signed.
The 36-year-old has been at Bayern since 2014, leading the scouting department for three years before becoming technical director. Neppe has the full confidence of the Bayern hierarchy having developed a great eye for potential players and he enjoys a great working relationship with the players. He has often been seen taking his place on the Bayern bench with Hasan Salihamidzic watching from above in the VIP area.
He acts as Salihamidzic’s right-hand man and quietly gets on with his work behind the scenes without the glare that his superiors do. He is said to have played a key role in Bayern’s acquisition of Jamal Musiala from Chelsea’s youth academy.
Speaking last year Neppe explained what he saw as the important factors in establishing yourself at Bayern. “Football quality and mentality” he said. “Then character, desire, team spirit, discipline and courage. You should also have the ability to reflect, to be able to assess yourself and what’s going on around you. You also need to be able to deal with pressure, you need resilience.
“And without fun, dedication, passion and a certain amount of greediness, you won’t ever get far anyway. Identifying with the club is also a key for us. A player should be proud to play for FC Bayern.”
Any great and efficiently working system is only as good as the sum of it’s parts. In the case of Marco Neppe and Bayern, he is a very important individual part that contributes to the greater good.
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