Van Gaal to coach Bayern Munich from next season
BERLIN (Reuters) - Dutchman Louis van Gaal will take over as coach of Bayern Munich on a two-year contract starting next season, the Bundesliga club announced on Wednesday.
Van Gaal, the 57-year-old former Ajax Amsterdam, Barcelona and Dutch national team coach, will be released by current side AZ Alkmaar after the clubs reached an agreement during talks in the Netherlands on Wednesday.
"We are delighted to be getting such an experienced and successful coach," Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said on the Bayern website (www.fcbayern.de).
Van Gaal will replace Jupp Heynckes, who stepped in on a deal running just to the end of this season after Bayern sacked Juergen Klinsmann last month.
The move completes the rehabilitation of a coach who won the Champions League with Ajax in 1995 and enjoyed early success with Barcelona but blotted his record badly with the Dutch national team and during a second, frustrating spell with Barca that ended in 2003.
He returned to full-time coaching with Alkmaar in 2005 and led them to the Dutch league title this season, their first such honour since 1981.
Bayern are second in the Bundesliga, behind Wolfsburg on goal difference with two games left to play.
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