Arne Friedrich is no longer sports director of Hertha BSC. The 42-year-old is leaving the capital club with immediate effect – and thus earlier than originally thought.
The club had already announced at the beginning of February that Friedrich would not extend his contract, which expires at the end of the season. Now the departure comes even earlier: as Hertha BSC announced on Monday evening, Friedrich will leave the club with immediate effect. “In an open discussion, we have now jointly determined that, in view of the planning for the coming season, it makes more sense to end our cooperation now,” managing director Fredi Bobic is quoted as saying in the statement.
Friedrich himself seems to have been concerned about his role in the club. “For various reasons,” he explained the decision, he “felt that my influence on important sporting decisions was no longer sufficient to do justice to my duties as sporting director. “
The former Hertha captain had returned to the club in 2019 while still under head coach Jürgen Klinsmann, and had served as sporting director since the 2020/21 season. After parting ways with then-managing director Michael Preetz, Friedrich held sole sporting responsibility for six months before Bobic moved to Berlin to take over as managing director.
In February, Bobic had still said about Friedrich’s future: “It’s no secret that the USA play an important role for him and we are working together to see how he can be a help for us there in the future.” The club does not say in its statement whether these plans will be continued. No details are given on a succession plan either.
