Lahm explains his decision to turn down sporting director role at Bayern
Philipp Lahm has elaborated why he turned down the chance to become Bayern München's sporting director last year.
Towards the end of his career, Philipp Lahm held talks with the Bayern München bosses about becoming the club's sporting director.
Ultimately, Lahm turned down the offer in March 2017 - a decision that surprised and disappointed Bayern München president Uli Hoeness and CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.
Now, the former Bayern captain has explained why he doesn't think he would have thrived in the role that was taken over by Hasan Salihamidzic instead.
"I had my teammates very, very close to me - and then I would suddenly have been the boss of these players so to speak. It just wouldn't have worked out," Lahm told Bild.
Back in March 2017, Lahm hinted that he said no to the offer because Bayern president Uli Hoeness didn't want to give him the responsibility he wanted.
"In general, you can only influence things around the team if you have the responsibility. I think that Uli Hoeness is still too active to let go. Too youthful. He wants to influence things himself. And that's his right, he's the chairman of the board, and he has done incredible things for the club," Lahm told Stern back then.
Lahm, 34, ended his career in 2017. The former German international was an honorary ambassador for Germany's bid to host the UEFA Euro 2024.