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We’ve seen multiple managerial and transfer manoeuvres in Germany in recent years announced early – especially when in tandem with league rivals.
Only this season, we’re seeing Julian Nagelsmann, Jesse Marsch, Adi Hütter and Marco Rose (among others) already agree deals with clubs. Dayot Upamecano is finalised to join Nagelsmann at Bayern Munich also, seeing an early announcement player wise.
Other famous pre-announcements in recent years have mostly come on the Dortmund to Bayern conveyor-belt. Robert Lewandowski, Mario Gotze and Mats Hummels. Gotze’s in particular was heavily controversial, coming just 48 hours before Borussia Dortmund’s Champions League semi-final with Real Madrid.
Many have questioned why German clubs actually do this, and why there is such open freedom of movement between clubs competing for the same trophy.
A well-written thread from Shivam Pathak explains this fully.
I wanted to address the common question that’s being asked about this news – which is “Why is this being announced halfway through the season?” There’s a reason for this – it’s to do with the way German clubs are structured and owned (thread, 1/7)https://t.co/1vfAt1KqBd pic.twitter.com/Vx2ANfga4y
— Shivam Pathak (@_ShivamPathak) February 15, 2021
“The majority of football clubs in Germany are what’s called an “eingetragene Verein” (e.V.), or “registered association”. You’ll see this in the long, official names of teams, for example: “Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e.V. Dortmund” or “Fußball-Club Bayern München e.V.”
An e.V is an organisation which is democratically ran by its members – of which there are usually thousands at certain clubs. For example, Bayern have 300,000 members because the e.V membership is extremely affordable, at around €60.
The 50+1 rule in the Bundesliga determines that clubs must be majority owned by their fans. This applies to 15/18 of current clubs in the League – there are three exceptions, for the clubs that have a connection to a company for more than 20 years (like Bayer 04). (5/7)
— Shivam Pathak (@_ShivamPathak) February 15, 2021
With the 50+1 rule in mind, any business the club conducts in consulted in and verified within its membership base, as they all have rights within the club.
This shows why clubs’ business is disclosed early in the Bundesliga – such as Nagelsmann’s to Bayern. Could we see it brought to English football in the near future? The answer, unfortunately, is no.
As clubs are all privately owned, information can be distributed as the private owners please. Unless the ownership rules change, the disclosure of information will not.
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