Historic change in the Bundesliga is pending: that’s why Jurendic is still finishing his FCZ job

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“I am very happy for him,” says Ilja Kaenzig (49) about FCZ sports director Marinko Jurendic (45), who will move to Augsburg and become sports director. Kaenzig is CEO at VfL Bochum and was the first Swiss to manage the Bundesliga sports area near Leverkusen and Hanover.

20 years later, Jurendic is the fourth Swiss in a similar position. In addition to Kaenzig, there were Martin Andermatt (61) as Chief Sports Director on the Supervisory Board of Hanover and current Mainz Sports Director Martin Schmidt (56). In addition, there is the Swiss Peter Knäbel (56) at HSV and Schalke.

And now Jurendic. But his visit to the WWK Arena on Wednesday to sign the contract until 2026 will be the last for now. On August 1, the FCZ master maker will officially move to Germany.

Is Jurendic working on his successor?

Until then, there is a rather bizarre transition period. Jurendic will remain employed by FCZ for at least a month, will continue to put pressure on the selection planning and will still be there on dates such as the start of training and at camp. That is why Jurendic is not speaking publicly about Augsburg yet.

In the best case for the FCZ, he even works his successor. Will chief scout Thomas Bickel be reactivated, at least on an interim basis? Open.

There are two reasons why Jurendic still works for Zurich despite his new job. On the one hand, it’s up to him. It would be an atypical move for the detail-obsessed central Swiss not to make an orderly handover. The second reason: because Jurendic takes up a newly created position in Augsburg, operations there will continue until August 1 under the direction of manager Stefan Reuter.

But with Jurendic, FCA is one of the last Bundesliga clubs to rely on the model with a sports director working under a strategic sports boss. So under Reuter – which will continue to be the center of criticism and less Jurendic. “In Germany it has become normal to work with team leaders who are close to the team. In this role you do a lot of organizational work in the background.”

In Augsburg, it is said that the unknown Swiss will be welcomed as a beacon of hope after the near descent. In any case, Kaenzig considers Augsburg an ideal starting point for a newcomer. Despite twelve years in the Bundesliga, FCA has remained a relatively small club, and the Swiss-like mentality also prevails in southern Bavaria. But first Jurendic will stay in Zurich for a few weeks.

Source : Blick