Bayern Munich is set to agree a historic cooperation agreement with 3. Liga side SpVgg Unterhaching. German newspaper SĂŒddeutsche Zeitung was the first report about a potential cooperation agreement between the two Greater Munich-based football clubs.
âThere will be no statement from us,â Unterhaching President Manfred Schwabl said when asked for a statement by the SĂŒddeutsche Zeitung. The newspaper cited anonymous sources working in Unterhachingâs city hall that Bayern was working on a deal with Die Spielvereinigung. Florian Darchinger, the CEO of SpVggâs local rivals Fortuna Unterhaching, told SZ that Bayern Munich was the potential investor to buy the cityâs stadium. âBayern is planning a cooperation with SpVgg,â Darchinger said.
Indeed, SpVgg has been trying to buy the Sportpark Unterhaching and the sports field located around the stadium from the city for some time. Owning the Sportpark outright rather than renting it from the city would give the club more flexibility and increase marketing possibilities.
Although Unterhaching has been a member of the Bundesliga from 1999 to 2001 â famously playing title spoilers to Leverkusen in 2000 â the club has always been the smallest of Munichâs traditional big three clubs. Overshadowed by Bayern and 1860 Munich, Haching often had to think outside the box to remain financially viable.
In 2019, Haching became just the second team in Germany after Borussia Dortmund to register on the stock exchange. The club currently holds 58.02% of those shares. The other biggest shareholders are club president Schwabl (19.34%) and Andreas Kögl (10.44%). The remaining 12.2% are widely spread shareholdings.
At the time, the club hoped to generate enough money to return to the 2. Bundesliga. But the club was relegated to the Regionalliga (fourth division) in 2020 instead and only returned to the 3. Liga ahead of this season.
While playing in Germanyâs third division can be financially challenging, the regional fourth divisions can be described as a financial wasteland. It is, therefore, not surprising that Haching is once again looking for investors to strengthen the clubâs infrastructure.
Furthermore, going in public in 2019, highlights that the club bosses around Schwabl are willing to think outside the box to find investors. As a player, Schwabl might be best known as a long-term captain of 1860 Munich. But the Holzkirchen native is actually a Bayern product and remains close with former Bayern president Uli HoeneĂ.
Therefore, it is not surprising that on Monday, several other outlets confirmed ongoing negotiations between Bayern and Haching about a potential cooperation agreement. Munich-based Merkur Zeitung first reported that a deal had been reached.
According to the report in Merkur, the idea of the two clubs has been around for some time but has recently been intensified by Bayernâs Campus boss Jochen Sauer and sporting director, Christoph Freund. Bayernâs new director of sport, Max Eberl, is also a proponent of the idea.
Freundâs involvement isnât surprising. Freundâs former club, Red Bull Salzburg, has a cooperation partner in Austriaâs second division: FC Liefering. That particular relationship has been fruitful, producing several top talents.
The idea is simple: Bayern talents not ready for the first team but too good for the youth or second team, which currently plays in the fourth division, will no longer be loaned out but sent to Unterhaching instead. Unlike Bayernâs second team, Unterhaching could, in theory, play in the 2. Bundesliga.
Bayern invested a reported âŹ70 million ($76 million) in the Campus. Located on the IngolstĂ€dter StraĂe on the outskirts of Munich, the state-of-the-art complex was supposed to help Bayern develop their own talents rather than buying expensive players.
Other than Jamal Musiala, who was partly trained by Chelsea, and this season Aleksandar Pavlovic, the Campus has been lacking when it comes to producing talent for the club. With talents from the Campus potentially playing for Haching, the club hopes to increase the talents to graduate from Bayernâs academy.
According to a report by Sky, up to three Bayern talents from the U19s/U23s would join Unterhaching every season once an agreement is reached. In return, Bayern will pay training compensation in the low single-digit million range. The fee will depend on the amount of time the players have played for Haching. Although a deal appears close, Sky added that the finer details of an agreement are still being worked out between the two clubs.
The German Football Federation (DFB) and the governing body of the Bundesliga, the Deutsche FuĂball Liga (DFL), also might have some questions. First and foremost, what would happen if Unterhaching ever reached the Bundesliga again? The regulations within German football are pretty straightforward: clubs with the same owner cannot play in the same division against one another.
Other clubs might also ask questions. After all, the reserve teams of the Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga teams can currently not play above the 3. Liga. Reaching an agreement with Haching could circumnavigate that agreement.
Questions, therefore, remain before a deal can be reached. But at the same time, both sides also need to be applauded. This is a creative deal that could lead to more homegrown talent reaching the highest level of competitive football in Germany.
Manuel Veth is the host of the Bundesliga Gegenpressing Podcast and the Area Manager USA at Transfermarkt. He has also been published in the Guardian, Newsweek, Howler, Pro Soccer USA, and several other outlets. Follow him on Twitter: @ManuelVeth and on Threads: @manuveth