Oliver Kahn criticised Bayern Munich's players for their display in Saturday's 3-1 loss at Mainz but absolved head coach Thomas Tuchel of any blame for their current slump.

Bayern dropped points for the second Bundesliga game running to relinquish top spot to Borussia Dortmund, who beat Eintracht Frankfurt 4-0 later in the day.

Tuchel replaced Julian Nagelsmann last month but has already overseen Bayern's exits from the Champions League and DFB-Pokal at the quarter-final stage of both.

Despite winning just two of his opening seven games in charge, Bayern CEO Kahn does not believe Tuchel deserves any criticism for results over the past month.

"Thomas Tuchel is the last person we need to talk about now," Kahn told reporters. "He is doing everything he can to help the boys progress. 

"There are 11 men on the pitch who have to work hard to achieve the goals of this club. What the team showed on the pitch is not enough."

Kahn and sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic are under growing pressure, with Bayern at risk of missing out on the Bundesliga title for the first time since the 2011-12 season.

"I have no problem with criticism," Kahn said. "I have been through a lot in my career and I know what it means when things are not going well at Bayern. We are all responsible. 

"Despite this poor performance, we can still become German champions this season. My only objective is to finish the season as champions and to set off again next season."

Sadio Mane gave Bayern the lead at Mainz, but goals from Ludovic Ajorque, Leandro Barreiro and Aaron Martin in the space of 14 second-half minutes stunned the visitors.

Bayern have now gone four games without a win across all competitions, and Kahn was particularly concerned by his side's collapse at Mewa Arena.

"We played a catastrophic second half," he said. "Who was the team that wants to become champions? It will be very difficult to become champions with such performances."

According to German outlet Sport1, Kahn, Salihamidzic and president Herbert Hainer spoke to the Bayern squad for 15 minutes in the dressing room after the game.

Echoing the views of Kahn, Hainer accepts something has to change with Bayern's mindset if they are to catch Dortmund – one point better off – in their final five matches. 

"We had the game completely under control in the first half, were 1-0 up and forgot to score the second goal," he said. "After their equaliser we broke up completely.

"The second half was disappointing – I have to say that very clearly. When you see two halves that are so different and we collapse like that, it's really difficult to explain.

"You've seen that a few times in the last few games, and I don't know why. The coach will work on it. You can tell there's no security. There's more when they're a goal down."

Bayern return to action a week on Sunday with a home match against bottom side Hertha Berlin.

Thomas Tuchel slammed speculation about the Bayern Munich future of Oliver Kahn and Hasan Salihamidzic by stating the off-field leaders "shaped the club".

This has been a tough week for Bayern, with Champions League elimination coming at the quarter-final stage for a third successive season after a 1-1 draw with Manchester City meant a 4-1 aggregate defeat.

Tuchel allowed himself a joke in Friday's pre-match conference, ahead of the clash with Mainz, when he reacted to the arrival of set-piece mastermind Anthony Barry from Chelsea by saying: "Finally there is a good coach."

Most focus has fallen on the possibility of departures, however, with reports casting some doubt on whether Bayern will continue to back CEO Kahn and sporting director Salihamidzic.

"I read absolutely nothing," said head coach Tuchel. "I come here in the morning and I feel a good energy here. I try to influence what I can influence.

"I don't want to comment on the rumours. My cooperation with the club management is goal- and solution-oriented. Oliver Kahn and Hasan Salihamidzic shaped the club."

He added: "I don't rule out that some unrest affects the players. But it will never be completely calm. We focus on the things that we can influence ourselves. I don't know any other way."

Tuchel's team must reset and train their focus on the Bundesliga, their last remaining trophy target. Bayern head into this weekend's games with a two-point lead over second-placed Borussia Dortmund after both drew their last league matches.

According to Tuchel, Bayern are not themselves at the moment. "I rather sense an insecurity, an unrest that paralyses us a bit," he said.

He said the team should look to "turn dissatisfaction into energy", and Tuchel, appointed on March 25, has seen plenty of cause for dissatisfaction.

Bayern exited the DFB-Pokal to Freiburg under his watch in early April and have not gone beyond the quarter-finals of that competition in the last three seasons.

But Tuchel said: "This is not a crisis. We must not question everything. There is always a sense of reality involved. Many big clubs didn't make it to the [Champions League] quarter-finals. But we remain ambitious and we always want more. We're still first in the Bundesliga."

The arrival of coach Barry is a timely boost, with a deal agreed to take him from Chelsea, where he and Tuchel previously collaborated.

"He just arrived," Tuchel said. "Finally there is a good coach. I am very happy. We really wanted to have him with us. The whole package is right for him: his personality, the love of the game, the love of his job, his passion and his quality. He brings a lot of energy. His work with set-pieces at Chelsea was on a whole new level for me."

Bayern Munich are adamant they were not at fault as Thomas Tuchel's appointment was reported before previous head coach Julian Nagelsmann had been sacked.

Nagelsmann was said to have learned of his departure through the media while skiing in Austria this week.

The news first broke on Thursday but was not made official for another 24 hours, by which point Tuchel had formally agreed to take the Bayern job.

However, Bayern sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic appeared on SPORT1's STAHLWERK Doppelpass on Sunday and defended the club's position.

"We met [with Tuchel] on Tuesday, had a very good conversation," Salihamidzic said. "And on Wednesday and Thursday, we negotiated with Thomas' managers.

"On Thursday evening, we learned that the information had been leaked by a third party. We really couldn't help it.

"I don't know who that was [behind the leak] – certainly from the other side. We behaved fairly. As fair as you can be in this business.

"The first person we called on Thursday was Julian Nagelsmann. You don't share such a decision on the phone. That's why we met the next day at Sabener Strasse. We waited until there was a commitment from Thomas Tuchel."

Indeed, although the leak looked "bad", the Bayern chief explained why it was not possible to dismiss Nagelsmann before putting a deal in place with Tuchel.

"It came out before Thomas Tuchel agreed, so I wouldn't have been able to call Julian yet," Salihamidzic said.

"I couldn't have told him, 'we're talking to Thomas now, but if he doesn't want to, you'll go ahead'.

"Of course, it's bad that this comes out beforehand, but that's not our fault."

Now, Bayern are looking forward to a future with Tuchel, even if he has had strained relationships with bosses at Borussia Dortmund, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea.

Disputes have often centred around transfer business, but the Bundesliga champions are ready to back Tuchel.

"With Julian Nagelsmann, we entered the transfer market together and discussed everything. We will do the same with Thomas Tuchel," Salihamidzic said.

"The coach's ideas are important, he has to transfer them to the team. We have let Julian be Julian and will also let Thomas Tuchel be Thomas Tuchel."

Thomas Tuchel denied joining Bayern Munich was a backwards step and claimed the team he has inherited from Julian Nagelsmann would be title contenders if given a chance to play in the Premier League.

The former Chelsea boss had been recently linked with Tottenham and conceded on Saturday he had not expected his next job to be one in the Bundesliga.

Such a stance is understandable, given Tuchel would have looked at Bayern, perhaps the only team that could presently tempt him back to Germany, and believed they were planning a long-term tenure for Nagelsmann.

Until his sacking, that remained the Bayern stance, with Nagelsmann's departure and Tuchel's arrival announced simultaneously by the German giants on Friday.

Tuchel could scoop a treble in his first months in charge, with Bayern through to quarter-finals in the Champions League and DFB-Pokal and sitting just a point behind Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga.

He said it was "an honour" to be handed the job, revealed he almost joined Bayern five years ago, and scoffed at suggestions he had other offers that pushed Bayern to move quickly.

Asked about Bayern's position in relation to offer opportunities that might have come his way, Tuchel said: "I think it's fair to say the Premier League is an extremely incredible league, and with the highest level of competition in Europe right now.

"It's not a step back to come to the Bundesliga though. I think Bayern have a squad that could compete for the Premier League title."

Tuchel has signed up until the end of the 2024-25 season, dismissing any implication a two-and-a-half-year contract represented any sort of negative reflection on him, given Nagelsmann signed a five-year deal when he was appointed in April 2021.

"For me, the length of contract doesn't play a big role," Tuchel said. "We can be very honest about it. If things go well we can talk about extending it.

"It's a profession that's about performance and right now there's a lot of things changing: squads changing, clubs changing, hierarchies – if you look at Chelsea – that are changing completely. The length of the contract is perfect for me."

Tuchel said he was first contact by Bayern on Tuesday, when a call from sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic caught him by surprise.

He had become an in-demand boss, with Spurs rumoured to be keen as Antonio Conte looks set to depart, but Tuchel denied using any such factor in negotiations.

"My idea was my career would continue abroad and I wasn't expecting anything like this," Tuchel said. "Reports I used other offers as a means of applying pressure are not true."

He did not immediately jump at Bayern's proposal, needing time to consider if this was the sensible career path.

"I had to sleep on it first," Tuchel said. "The excitement and the thrill of taking on such a big task started outweighing everything else. We started communicating clearly between each other. There was nothing about other clubs."

It was confirmed Tuchel was in the frame for the Bayern job in 2018, when Jupp Heynckes was at the helm and looking set to depart at the season's end, but there was no certainty over that.

"I was very close to joining Bayern," Tuchel said. "At the time, Bayern had every right to wait for Jupp's decision."

Tuchel instead accepted an offer from Paris Saint-Germain, and he said of that moment: "The fact is, I couldn't wait for Jupp to make a decision on his own career.

"On this occasion, things did go very quickly, and it's a fantastic solution for me."

He described Bayern's group of players as "one of the most talented squads in Europe right now" and reflected they must not only win games and titles, but "it's about the way you win as well".

Oliver Kahn believed Bayern Munich's hopes of trophy success this season and in the next campaign were under threat with Julian Nagelsmann at the helm.

The tacit admission that the 10-in-a-row Bundesliga champions would surrender their crown if Nagelsmann stayed in charge came in a press conference on Saturday.

Bayern CEO Kahn sacked Nagelsmann and has brought Thomas Tuchel to the club as head coach, with their hopes of a treble remaining alive going into the closing weeks of the season.

The shock departure of Nagelsmann, less than two years after he was acquired at great expense from RB Leipzig, was one the Bayern hierarchy decided was essential.

"The last few days have been hard for us all," Kahn said. "They certainly weren't easy days, and it's safe to assume there was the odd night where I didn't sleep well.

"That's one side of this job that is no longer fun but unfortunately is part of the business. When you let a head coach go, ultimately there's a person behind that decision.

"Nothing big changed, we all see him as an excellent and very good head coach, and on a personal level we understood each other over the course of the last year and three quarters.

"But it's our responsibility and duty to sort out the sporting success of this club, and so we asked ourselves the question of what's the reason behind the big changes in performance.

"So, this isn't a panic decision. It's got nothing to do with panic. We had a close look at everything, and we took the emotions out of the decisions."

Bayern were beaten 2-1 by Bayer Leverkusen last Sunday and as a result relinquished top spot in the Bundesliga to Borussia Dortmund. Dortmund are Bayern's next opponents, and incoming boss Tuchel is a former Dortmund coach.

A beaming Tuchel was presented by Bayern on Saturday, having been first contacted on Tuesday.

"We might have taken the decision on Monday, but we took a chance to look at everything," Kahn said. "It's all about finding out where these big swings in performances come from."

Kahn pointed to last season's Champions League exit at the hands of Villarreal and a 5-0 DFB-Pokal loss to Borussia Monchengladbach in October 2021.

"The fact is there were vulnerabilities that were hard to understand that kept raising their head over several games, despite the fact we strengthened the squad before the start of the season and have one of best squads in Europe," Kahn said.

"The continuity in performance of the team never really got better.

"If you look at the start of the second half of the season, we were often not happy with the performances.

"It's the expectation for a club like Bayern that we are a stable ship, so we started with three 1-1 draws in a row – a tough start to the second half of the season – and you see where we are today. Out of 10 Bundesliga games, we have five wins and three draws. That's not where our expectation levels are.

"That's ultimately why we had to make a decision. The expectations are always at their highest here at Bayern.

"We saw and felt our season targets for this season and next season were in danger, and that's why we came to the decision to let Julian Nagelsmann go. It was a well thought through process, certainly not an emotional decision down to one game."

Kahn said he and sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic had supported Nagelsmann until reaching this decision.

They took no satisfaction in parting company with the 35-year-old Nagelsmann, who will be eager in his next job to prove Bayern made a rash choice.

"Of course, there are nicer things in life," Kahn said. "It was frustrating and he was trying to understand. We explained it as we have explained it today.

"He took it on board and understood. The bottom line is it really did not go how we expected things to go."

Kahn said his open-door policy to the club's players had provided some insight into the vibe of the squad under Nagelsmann's leadership.

"I let players come into my office, have a coffee and listen in," he said. "I think this is one of the strengths of the club. I think everyone had a very clear picture of how the players were feeling and what kind of situation they found themselves in."

Oliver Kahn says Bayern Munich's decision to replace Julian Nagelsmann with Thomas Tuchel as head coach was due to the team playing "less successfully and less attractively" since the World Cup.

The Bundesliga giants lost their lead at the top of the table at the weekend after a 2-1 defeat at Bayer Leverkusen, with Borussia Dortmund leapfrogging them with a 6-1 win over Koln.

Despite an impressive Champions League last-16 success against Paris Saint-Germain, Nagelsmann has paid the price for a dip in domestic form, with two of their three league defeats this season coming in their last five games.

"When we signed Julian Nagelsmann for FC Bayern in the summer of 2021, we were convinced we would work with him on a long-term basis, and that was the goal of all of us right up to the end," Bayern chief executive Kahn told the club's website.

"Julian shares our aspiration to play successful and attractive football. But now we have come to the conclusion that the quality in our squad – despite the Bundesliga title last year – has come to the fore less and less often. After the World Cup we have played less successfully and less attractively. 

"The big fluctuations in performance have cast doubt on our goals for this season, but also our goals for the future. That is why we have acted now. 

"Personally and on behalf of FC Bayern, I would like to thank Julian and his coaching team, and wish everyone the best of luck for the future."

Sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic echoed Kahn's words, saying it was "the most difficult decision in my time as a board member".

He added: "I have had an open, trusting, friendly relationship with Julian from day one. I regret the parting of the ways with Julian. But after a thorough analysis of the sporting development of our team, especially since January and with the experience of the second half of the previous season, we have now decided to release him. 

"I am very grateful to Julian for what he has done for FC Bayern and I wish him all the best."

Bayern have appointed former Dortmund, PSG and Chelsea head coach Tuchel on a contract until June 2025.

Hasan Salihamidzic blasted Bayern Munich as "inferior in all areas" in their loss to Bayer Leverkusen, as the champions slipped up in the Bundesliga title race.

A 2-1 defeat in the final game before the international break saw Julian Nagelsmann's side fail to reclaim top spot a day after losing it to Borussia Dortmund.

With the two sides set to meet in their first game back on April 1, Bayern will enter the crunch clash knowing a second reverse in a row could spell the end of their title defence.

Sporting director Salihamidzic was left fuming by what he perceived as a poor mentality throughout, and felt the visitors deserved nothing at BayArena.

"That's not what Bayern means," he told SPORT1 in discussing the performance. "We missed everything [that we] demanded from a team that won on Thursday. We were inferior in all areas."

"Confidence or not, we have to bring [our] mentality and greed onto the pitch. It is about the championship [race].

"We had two shots on goal in the last few minutes, but [we had] so little drive, [or] mentality, [or] assertiveness. I've rarely experienced that.

"This team is so good when the mentality is right from the start, but [they can be] just as bad when they don't do it and think that they can do everything with [their] quality."

Bayern had won three straight league games after losing to Borussia Monchengladbach last month but will now welcome Dortmund trailing their Klassiker rivals by a point.

Hasan Salihamidzic believes Bayern Munich will be ready to face Manchester City after being paired with the "strongest possible opponent" in Friday's Champions League quarter-final draw.

City recovered from a shaky first leg against RB Leipzig to thump them 7-0 at home and secure their place in the last eight with an 8-1 aggregate victory.

Bayern, meanwhile, impressively eased past French champions Paris Saint-Germain 3-0 on aggregate to set them up for a tie against City which will see Pep Guardiola return to the club he coached between 2013 and 2016.

Bayern sporting director Salihamidzic is relishing the opportunity to face off against one of the favourites, telling reporters: "I like playing against the good teams.

"Our boys are very focused and this is a top tie. It's a tough opponent, the strongest possible in my opinion.

"So this is another little final. After Paris, this is again a group we have to play that has a lot of quality.

"They won very convincingly against Leipzig. We will see Pep Guardiola again and I'm looking forward to the games."

Prolific striker Erling Haaland has scored 39 goals in all competitions since signing for City, including five against Leipzig in City's second-leg rout on Tuesday.

But while Salihamidzic acknowledged the quality Haaland and City possess, he has confidence in his team's defence to hold up against such a formidable attacking force.

"Haaland is one of the best strikers in the world," Salihamidzic added. "He does it very, very well.

"But we defended very well against Paris. I believe that we perform best against the best teams.

"These are also the highlights of the season for the fans. This is a top pairing. I'm looking forward to it."

Bayern CEO Oliver Kahn feels games against the likes of City are a great litmus test for whether the Bavarian side have what it takes to go on and lift their seventh Champions League.

Like Salihamidzic, he appeared to be relishing the challenge.

"Manchester City are an absolute top team, but we are Bayern Munich," Kahn said.

"We must and will be ready for this big opponent. If you want to win the Champions League, you have to beat the best.

"That's the challenge - and we're happy to take it on."

Sadio Mane hopes Joao Cancelo will sign permanently for Bayern Munich after the previously out-of-favour full-back shone against Augsburg.

Cancelo, long seen as a key man at Manchester City, lost his place in Pep Guardiola's team and joined Bayern on loan in January.

The Portugal international started four consecutive games at Bayern, providing assists in each of his first two appearances, although he was substituted in all four.

After Cancelo was withdrawn at half-time of the Champions League first leg against Paris Saint-Germain, he lost his place in the side and only returned to the XI on Saturday.

There had been reports of Cancelo's discontent prior to the Augsburg match, but he completed the 90 minutes, scored one goal and created another.

No player made more tackles, and the mood music around Cancelo appeared to change afterwards, returning focus to the possibility of a transfer at the end of the season.

"What a player," forward Mane told Sport1. "We saw again that Joao is one of the best in the world.

"So good, really, we are very happy that he plays with us.

"I would love to see him with us next season. That's the kind of player we need, for sure."

That is a decision that will rest with the Bayern hierarchy, but Cancelo's performance also looked to have won over sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic.

"He is a sensational player," Salihamidzic told reporters. "He's trained really well in the last week and found that desire and greed again.

"Hardly any other player in Europe is that good in small spaces."

Eric Choupo-Moting's contract extension with Bayern Munich will have no influence on a potential move for Tottenham talisman Harry Kane.

That was the message from Bayern sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic after Cameroon international Choupo-Moting signed a new deal until June 2024 on Friday.

The Bundesliga champions have been repeatedly linked with a move for Spurs striker Kane since losing the prolific Robert Lewandowski to Barcelona.

Sadio Mane arrived from Liverpool ahead of the 2022-23 season, but Choupo-Moting remains the Bavarian giants' only out-and-out frontman.

The 33-year-old has scored 10 times in 17 league appearances this season, and Salihamidzic is keen to see Choupo-Moting continue to develop as he gave little away about a potential move for England captain Kane.

"We're glad we have Choupo. I can't say what will happen in the summer yet," he told Sky Sport Germany.

When pressed on Choupo-Moting's renewal influencing a Kane deal, Salihamidzic added: "Nothing, that's nonsense. That's not our consideration at all.

"First of all, we extended Choupo. I hope he's the same, keep going, keep scoring and then we'll see."

Bayern sit top of the Bundesliga after 23 games, ahead of Borussia Dortmund on goal difference after Saturday's 2-1 victory at Stuttgart for Julian Nagelsmann's side.

Fashionista Serge Gnabry has been told to smarten up his act by Bayern Munich CEO Oliver Kahn.

After a dressing-down from sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic, the fallout continued on Saturday after Gnabry's trip to Paris Fashion Week on his recent day off.

Salihamidzic branded Serge Gnabry "amateurish" after the Germany forward returned from Paris to put in a disappointing display in the Bundesliga draw against Koln on Tuesday.

Rather than spending his downtime in Paris last Sunday, Salihamidzic felt Gnabry should have been resting between games to ensure he was in his best condition to turn on the style for Bayern.

Gnabry was only a substitute for Saturday's game with Eintracht Frankfurt. It was the third game in succession where Bayern have been held 1-1, seeing their Bundesliga lead whittled down to one point.

Kahn, speaking ahead of the game, said the best way for a player to answer any critics would be to ensure their on-field performance was unimpeachable.

"If I know that it's not the best time, then I have to go on the pitch, score three goals and be the best man. That would be my answer to a topic like that," Kahn told German broadcaster Sky, addressing the Gnabry situation.

Bayern's players had plenty of time off after the World Cup, where Gnabry was a member of the Germany squad that tumbled out at the group stage.

"We now simply expect performance – and we demand it," Kahn said. "We discussed this with Serge. Hasan spoke to him and made it clear. I think he understood."

Bayern Munich sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic scathingly branded Serge Gnabry "amateurish" for using a day off to attend Paris Fashion Week before turning in a disappointing performance on Tuesday.

The Bundesliga champions were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Koln, with Joshua Kimmich's 90th-minute screamer salvaging a point.

Gnabry started the match after finding himself in the media spotlight, with Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann saying his players can use their free time as they see fit, even if he hinted a degree of frustration with the winger going to Paris on Sunday.

But the Germany international was withdrawn at half-time following an underwhelming first-half display.

After the game, Salihamidzic was not shy about letting his thoughts on the matter be known.

"It's amateurish," Salihamidzic is quoted as saying by Kicker. "That's exactly what I don't like. It's exactly what Bayern Munich isn't.

"A day off is there to rest so that you can step on the gas again in the next game. We'll talk about that."

Nagelsmann was keen to clarify that Gnabry's extracurricular activities had nothing to do with him being withdrawn, however.

"Now, I'm not one for these tabloid issues. I evaluate what I see on the field, and I evaluate what I have on the bench for outstanding players," he told reporters.

"I had the feeling that we needed a breath of fresh air, also because of the changed basic structure at Koln, because it opened up a little more distance for the wide players.

"That's why we switched. It had nothing to do with everything else. I evaluate what I see and then try to make the right decision."

The result means Bayern's lead at the top of the table is four points – it was six heading into Tuesday, before second-placed RB Leipzig crushed Schalke 6-1.

Bayern resumed their season last week by drawing 1-1 with Leipzig, leaving them on two points from a possible six in 2023.

And captain Kimmich felt it was necessary to question the attitude of his team-mates following this latest setback.

"The second half was a bit better," he told Sat1. "The first half…we certainly have to talk about that in terms of approach, our willingness, our attitude.

"It's relatively easy to change – it's not that it's a matter of tactics or technique or fitness, it's just the willingness. I expect that we can get that changed relatively quickly."

Bayern are next in action on Saturday when they play host to Eintracht Frankfurt.

Daley Blind revealed his shock move to Bayern Munich has received the backing of Louis van Gaal and Erik ten Hag.

Former Netherlands boss Van Gaal, who stepped down after the World Cup, is a former Bayern head coach, while Manchester United manager Ten Hag previously had a spell in charge of Bayern's reserve team.

Both think Blind has made a smart move by joining the German champions in a step that few saw coming.

The 99-cap Netherlands defender had been heavily linked with Royal Antwerp, but he jumped at the chance to join Bundesliga leaders Bayern, who are chasing an 11th consecutive league title.

Blind has committed to a six-month contract, with the 32-year-old adding the Bavarian giants to his illustrious list of clubs, having also had a four-year stint at United that ended in 2018.

Asked about the influence on the deal of Van Gaal and Ten Hag, who was his former coach at Ajax, Blind said: "I did not speak to them before. Everything went real quick.

"They messaged me after and told me it was a great step, a great opportunity. They were really happy and wished me all the luck."

Speaking at his presentation in Doha on Saturday, Blind refused to go into the reported falling-out with Ajax coach Alfred Schreuder that preceded him being cut free, six months before the end of his contract.

"There is a lot of news lately about Ajax and me, but I don't think is the right moment to talk about that," he said.

Blind is eager to fight for a place in the Bayern team, aware he will be "maybe not a first choice" initially.

His hope is that there will be the chance to extend his short-term deal, but Blind veered clear of looking too far into the future.

"We'll see what happens," he said. "I'll enjoy the moment for now and see what happens after."

Bayern sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic revealed talks with Blind happened prior to his Ajax exit being announced on December 27.

"Before Christmas we got in touch with him and he showed us straight away this would be his first option," Salihamidzic said.

"We got along very well straightaway and had a good feeling for each other.

"He's an asset for us. We know he's a great player so we hope we can win a few titles together."

Finding a mid-season replacement for injured goalkeeper Manuel Neuer is proving "extremely difficult", according to Bayern Munich CEO Oliver Kahn.

Neuer was ruled out for the rest of the season after suffering a broken leg in a skiing accident while on holiday in the wake of Germany's shock group-stage exit at the World Cup.

The 36-year-old's injury has given Bayern a headache between the sticks as they bid for silverware at home and in Europe.

The German champions hold a four-point lead at the Bundesliga summit and are expected to bring in a goalkeeper in January, with Borussia Monchengladbach's Yann Sommer reportedly their top target.

Sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic also suggested they could recall Alexander Nubel from his loan at Monaco, but Nubel himself stated it "doesn't make much sense" for him to return to Bayern and has started both of Monaco's games since Ligue 1 returned after the World Cup.

Kahn says replacing the absent Neuer in the January transfer window is tricky, telling Bild: "We are discussing various options without hesitation.

"But replacing Manuel Neuer during the winter break is of course extremely difficult, especially since not many clubs want to give up their number one goalkeeper."

Neuer is expected to make a full recovery before the start of the 2023-24 season, but Kahn still feels it is necessary to bring in a shot-stopper, even if just for a brief period, explaining: "Football is a short-term business, we have to think about the here and now.

"We know Manuel. He will give everything he can to get back into top form. And a Manuel Neuer in top form is absolutely world-class."

Bayern return to competitive action away at RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga on January 20, while they will likely already have one eye on their tricky Champions League last-16 tie against Paris Saint-Germain, with the first leg set to take place at the Parc des Princes on February 14.

Bayern Munich are weighing up whether the "obvious solution" of bringing back Alexander Nubel from his loan at Monaco would be the most prudent move, after Manuel Neuer's shock injury blow.

Hasan Salihamidzic, the club's sporting director, has acknowledged Nubel is an option Bayern could turn to after Neuer was ruled out for the rest of the season with a broken leg.

Neuer's regular understudy Sven Ulreich may have the chance to stake a claim, but it would be no surprise if Bayern brought in another goalkeeper in January.

Whether they bring back Nubel from Monaco appears to hinge on the Ligue 1 club accepting a request to cut short his loan and on whether Bayern consider him the smart choice.

Nubel has been a regular for Monaco since joining the team in June 2021 on a two-season arrangement, having previously spent a year mostly confined to the bench with the Bundesliga champions.

Salihamidzic told Sport Bild: "It is important that we find the best solution for our team in the short term.

"Of course, Alexander Nubel would be an obvious solution. In the end, Monaco have the last word."

The injury to club captain Neuer came as he took a holiday following Germany's exit from the World Cup.

Bayern last week ruled out a move for Dinamo Zagreb keeper Dominik Livakovic, who shone at the World Cup for Croatia, with CEO Oliver Kahn saying the 27-year-old was "not within the scope of our interests".