Hansi Flick's contract concerns at Bayern Munich and his unhappiness over the club's handling of David Alaba and Jerome Boateng have been revealed in the wake of his decision to step down from his role as manager.
Flick announced his intention to leave Allianz Arena after Bayern's 3-2 victory over Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga on Saturday.
The club have since condemned the 56-year-old for making the information public amid ongoing speculation that he is in line to replace Joachim Low as Germany's new head coach following this summer's European Championship.
Flick's contract
Goal and SPOX have learned that Flick's doubts over remaining in charge at Bayern were first raised before he was handed a permanent three-year deal in April 2020.
The German had been in charge on an interim basis since the previous December, and originally only wanted to stay on until the end of the season.
Flick was ultimately persuaded to commit his future to the club, and ended up delivering a Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal and Champions League treble following the resumption of the 2020-21 campaign after the coronavirus-enforced break.
He is on course to oversee another league title triumph and still has two years left to run on his current deal, but has now formally requested to terminate the agreement.
Flick's stance on Alaba and Boateng
Alaba and Boateng are both expected to follow Flick out of Allianz Arena exit this summer, with the former having expressed a desire to undertake a new challenge and the latter set to become a free agent.
Goal and SPOX can confirm that Flick has been at odds with the Bayern board over their failure to present either player with suitable contract extension offers.
The Bayern boss felt both players deserved fresh terms, and that the club were wrong to publicly criticise Alaba's agent Pini Zahavi while negotiations over a potential new deal were still ongoing.
Flick's relationship with Hasan Salihamidzic
The final main factor which has led to Flick's decision is the tension that has been threatening to boil over between him and Bayern's sporting director Salihamidzic.
Miroslav Klose has served as Flick's assistant throughout his tenure at the Allianz, despite having fallen out with Salihamidzic while he was in charge of the U17s for benching his son and deeming him not good enough for senior level football.
Klose considered resigning only for Flick to step in and persuade him to join his first-team coaching staff, which Goal and SPOX understands caused irreparable damage to his relationship with Salihamidzic.
The two men have disagreed on several issues since then, including the club's transfer policy and their dealings with the press amid Manuel Neuer’s contract negotiations.