Izuchukwu OkosiBayern Munich on Wednesday confirmed that manager Thomas Tuchel will step down at the end of the season following a string of poor results in recent matches in the Bundesliga and Champions League.
Tuchel who won the Bundesliga title with the Bavarians last season after rivals Borrusia Dortmund lost grips of the diadem on the last day of the season will depart a year earlier than expected as his contract was due to expire in June 2025.
Leverkusen defeated the Bavarians recently by 3-0 in the domestic league and were also beaten 1-0 by Lazio in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.
Bayern CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen in a club statement noted that both parties agreed to “mutually end our collaboration” following “an open, good conversation”.
“Our goal is to carry out a sporting realignment with a new coach for the 2024-25 season,” he added.
“Until then, every individual in the club is expressly challenged to achieve the maximum possible in the Champions League and the Bundesliga.
“I also explicitly hold the team responsible. Especially in the Champions League, we are convinced after the defeat at Lazio we will advance to the quarter-finals with our fans behind us.”
Tuchel in a post on his socal media handle wrote: “We will leave after this season. Until then, my coaching team and I will continue to do everything we can to ensure maximum success.
Tuchel was coach of PSG before his move to Bayern and won the Champions League with Chelsea in 2021 beating Manchester City 1-0 in the final with current Arsenal star, Kai Havertz scoring the only goal of the game
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
In October 2004, Okosi joined Complete Communications Limited, publishers of Complete Sports newspaper and Complete Football magazine as a reporter and later script writer for the Complete Sports studio.
He worked there for 13 years until October 2017.
Okosi also worked various times as Correspondent, Content creator and Editor at Sports Market International Magazine, Opera News, All Nigeria Soccer Media and Iconic Media Watch.
He also undertook freelance writing gigs for some local and international organizations.
Okosi is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Association of Voiceover Artistes of Nigeria (AVOA), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
He has been part of cast in some Nollywood movies and radio dramas including Blood Money 2, Scores To Settle, Dead End 2, Another Campus Tale and Battle Line.
Aside mainstream media and the entertainment industry, he has interests in scouting/unearthing of talents in the sports and creative sectors, exports business and property development.
