Bayern Munich board member for sport Max Eberl said on Saturday that they will find a good solution in their difficult search for a new coach, which may or may not now see Roberto De Zerbi as frontrunner.
"We will find a good solution. A very good friend of mine always says: The best comes at the end," Eberl told Sky TV ahead of Bayern's final season match at Hoffenheim which they lost 4-2.
And as the match was still in progress Brighton & Hove Albion announced that they were parting ways with De Zerbi who had a contract until 2026.
“We have agreed to end my time at Brighton so that the club and I can continue to work in the way that suits each of us best, following our own ideas and visions, as well as our work and human values," De Zerbi said.
The Italian has long been linked with the Bayern job but had always previously committed to Brighton.
Later Eberl was asked by ZDF if he would deny that an Italian was coming, to which he replied: "Yes."
Current coach Thomas Tuchel had confirmed on Friday there would be no stunning U-turn and that the decision from January that he would leave stood.
The news was accompanied by speculation that Tuchel had wanted a contract beyond 2025 and that not all top Bayern officials were supportive of such a decision.
Eberl said it was "not about convincing" Tuchel to stay.
"It wasn't just one issue but multi-layered," Eberl said. "I knew it for a while."
Tuchel told Sky a few minutes later that Eberl knew the decision since around Wednesday.
The fact Bayern finished third in the Bundesliga for the first time since 2011 after the humbling defeat at Hoffenheim summed up their sorry season.
"We defended absolutely terribly," Tuchel said in his last Bayern press conference, which lasted just three minutes. "Another bitter defeat, completely unnecessary, but...it simply happened far too often."
When asked by Sky what had gone wrong this term, he said he could not say it publicly.
Tuchel's decision not to stay was the latest setback for Bayern after preferred candidates such as Xabi Alonso from Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen, Austria coach Ralf Rangnick and Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann, who left Bayern 14 months ago, said they would remain in their present jobs.
Crystal Palace's Oliver Glasner was also not available.
Sky pundit and former Bayern captain Lothar Matthäus said the situation at the club was worse than in the past when Bayern were dubbed "FC Hollywood."
Eberl said "I can understand" the criticism and that "I am the one who is most dissatisfied."
Matthäus named former Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane "a dream" candidate but admitted it probably won't happen.
Another Sky pundit, former Bayern midfielder Dietmar Hamann, mentioned under-fire Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou and said "he would do Bayern good."
Also named in the media is ex-Bayern and Germany coach Hansi Flick.
