Flick on Bayern stand-off: ´I´m not really thinking about it´

Bayern Munich head coach Hansi Flick refused to be drawn on the stand-off between him and the club after their 2-0 victory over Bayer Leverkusen edged them closer to the Bundesliga title.

Flick declared after Saturday’s 3-2 win over Wolfsburg that he intends to leave Bayern at the end of this season and has requested for his contract, which runs until 2023, to be terminated.

The 56-year-old has been heavily linked with the Germany national team coaching role as Joachim Low’s successor but Bayern have made it clear they will not let him leave without a fee, causing a stand-off.

Bayern’s win over Leverkusen on Tuesday moved them within one victory of the 2020-21 Bundesliga title but Flick’s future was a hot topic post-game.

“I’m not really thinking about it,” Flick said when asked how he will handle talks with the Bayern directors.

“I’m not thinking that far [ahead]. You’ve been part of the press conferences for a while, you know I never look back or forward further than the next game.

“The next game will be Mainz. I really enjoy when the team performs like today. That’s what the coach is here for.”

Four games to go #packmas pic.twitter.com/ESYVNl4sFP

— FC Bayern English (@FCBayernEN) April 20, 2021

Flick also refused to accept any congratulations despite Bayern all but being champions, with a 10-point buffer from second-placed RB Leipzig with four games to play.

“I told my team before the game that we can make a huge step in the right direction today and that’s what we did,” Flick said.

“We have another huge game on Saturday at Mainz. We don’t have any points to give away so we also want to win there and after that you can say congratulations.”

Eric Choupo-Moting has scored three goals in three games in Robert Lewandowski’s absence but Flick indicated the Poland forward has a strong chance to return against Mainz following a knee injury.

“Honestly Robert really was practicing well today,” he said. “We’re happy he’s probably able to come back earlier. He’s absolutely an option for Saturday.”