It had already become apparent that Christoph Spycher would not be returning to Eintracht Frankfurt as the successor to sporting director Markus Krösche. The Swiss executive has now announced his departure from BSC Young Boys, though this will not take place until next summer, after more than a decade in the club’s sporting management.
It had already been leaked on Wednesday, and now it is official: Christoph Spycher will not be succeeding Markus Krösche as sporting director at Eintracht Frankfurt. On Thursday morning, BSC Young Boys issued a statement in which the 48-year-old announced his departure from the Swiss club, although this will not take effect until next summer.
After retiring from playing in 2014, Spycher initially joined the Young Boys’ coaching staff, before rising to become sporting director in 2016 and then sporting director of the Bern-based club in 2022. In consultation with owner Jöggi Rihs and president Marcel Brülhart, he has now decided to step down from this role after the 2027 summer transfer window.
Spycher aims to “take stock” in the summer
“It was a very difficult decision for me to make. But after around eleven years at the helm of the sporting department, it will be a good time to step down, especially as YB is structurally very well organised, financially sound and demonstrates a level of stability and continuity at both strategic and operational levels that is unusual in this business,” Spycher is quoted as saying. “Once my operational role at YB comes to an end, I would like to take stock to work out what my professional future should look like.”
“ “From today’s perspective, it is clear to me that I will see out the current season in my present role with full vigour and ambition, and that I will both shape the transfer activity this coming winter together with Mathieu Beda (Technical Director, editor’s note) and oversee that of summer 2027,” said Spycher, who has always emphasised that he would not work in Bern “until retirement”. He will, however, remain on the club’s board of directors as a minority shareholder.
Frankfurt’s search intensifies
At Eintracht, Spycher – a former professional and ex-SGE captain (who played for the Hessian club between 2005 and 2010, making 149 competitive appearances) – was regarded as one of the top candidates to succeed Krösche, who was relieved of his duties at his own request in mid-October, one day before the general meeting.
The Frankfurt chairman had confirmed as recently as Saturday, ahead of the match against Borussia Dortmund, that there was a “shortlist of three candidates” at SGE and that a decision would be made “relatively quickly”.
In an interview with Swiss Radio and Television (SRF) on Thursday, Spycher reacted calmly to the rumours of alleged interest from Frankfurt: “Speculation is part and parcel of the football business. It is clear that this decision was made by me. And there is nothing more to say on the matter at present.”
Following Spycher’s definitive rejection, Marcel Schäfer of RB Leipzig – who was born in Aschaffenburg – and Joti Chatzialexiou of 1. FC Nürnberg, who hails from Frankfurt and spent many years as a youth coach at SGE at the start of the millennium, continue to be heavily tipped for the role. Meanwhile, there are increasing signs that Chatzialexiou is set to leave Nürnberg to return to his home town.