But the surprises do not end there. Dante may not be the only 2013 treble winner that returns to the club in the summer, as Bild (as captured by @iMiaSanMia) reports Franck Ribéry could be next:
Dante could bring Franck Ribéry as his new FCB II assistant coach next season. The rumour has been circulating
around the Bayern Campus for some time and is now gaining momentum. Ribéry is said to be open to a comeback to FC Bayern. It remains to be seen whether that will materialize in the end.
The Frenchman retired from football in 2022 at Italian club Salernitana before joining the club’s backroom staff until 2024 and joining Italian Football Federation technical center Coverciano to study for his coaching badges. Once he earned his UEFA A license, which allows him to coach women’s teams and men’s teams up until the third division, he left Salernitana and started studying full time at Coverciano.
As recently as February of 2026, GOAL.com captured his comments on Bayern’s 6-1 first leg win over Atalanta in the Champions League. More importantly, the former Olympique Marseille player spoke of his future in coaching. He professed a preference to start coaching in Italy but remained open to other avenues. Certainly, a return to Munich should be attractive to the Bayern legend.
Unfortunately, it is impossible to mention a potential Ribéry return to Munich to coach the U-23s without mentioning all the controversies that he has been part of in the past. There was the infamous rape charge back in 2010 for having paid sex with a minor. He admitted he had done the crime, but was ultimately acquitted from all charges because he claimed he did not know she was under 18. Furthermore, his name was mentioned multiple times in the infamous “Epstein Files”, in which he was accused of some very violent crimes. The whole story is very well covered here.
Is Ribéry really the kind of player Bayern wishes to bring back to the club? Are the accusations enough to warrant barring him from any work at Bayern? Bayern faced a similar situation with a potential coaching hire of Jérôme Boateng a while back, which BFW also covered here.
Then, Bayern bowed to fan pressure and did not let the alleged abuser join the club. Will the fans have a similar reaction to a potential Ribéry return? For now, a return is merely a rumor rather than a reality. Perhaps it would be best for all if it remained that way.
If you are looking for more Bayern Munich and German national team coverage, check out the latest episodes of Bavarian Podcast Works, which you can get on Acast, Spotify, Apple, or any leading podcast distributor…
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