Who is Falkenberg: the latest candidate for Milan sporting director role | OneFootball

Bayer Leverkusen director Kim Falkenberg is the latest candidate linked with the Milan sporting director role: here are the best deals completed by the German and how he started his career behind the desk after his retirement in 2018.

La Gazzetta dello Sport reports that Falkenberg is among the candidates to cover the sporting director role at Milan starting next summer.

Falkenberg is expected to hold talks with Milan CEO Giorgio Furlani next week. Four other names have been mentioned for the job, with Igli Tare and Fabio Paratici seen as the leading candidates over Thiago Scuro (Monaco) and Markus Krösche of Eintracht Frankfurt.

Falkenberg is a former professional German footballer who played as a full-back. The 36-year-old never made it to the Bundesliga but collected 106 appearances in Germany’s second division 2. Bundesliga, mostly for VfL Osnabrück.

He was still under contract with the German side when he began his career as a director at Bayer Leverkusen. A cruciate ligament injury in 2017 forced him to consider an early retirement and focus entirely on a career behind the desk.

Falkenberg’s career at Leverkusen started under Jonas Boldt, the former club’s sporting director, now serving as CEO.

“We met at a party, and I told him I was studying sports business management,” Falkenberg said in a recent interview, as quoted by Gazzetta.

Who is Falkenberg: the latest candidate for Milan sporting director role

REGGIO NELL’EMILIA, ITALY – APRIL 14: Giorgio Furlani CEO of AC Milan looks on prior to the Serie A TIM match between US Sassuolo and AC Milan at Mapei Stadium – Citta’ del Tricolore on April 14, 2024 in Reggio nell’Emilia, Italy. (Photo by Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images)

“I needed an internship, and he gave me the opportunity at Leverkusen. That’s how I started as a scout, a role I had never considered before. But after just a few video analyses, I realized it was the right job for me. I almost became addicted to the analyses.”

The 36-year-old was appointed Bayer Leverkusen’s Head of Scouting in 2017 before being named as Head of Recruitment and then sporting director, just three weeks ago.

“He [Falkenberg] played a key role in shaping the squad in recent years, contributing to the team’s development and success,” said Rolfes.

Falkenberg has identified players like Jeremie Frimpong, signed for €11m, Alex Grimaldo, acquired on a free transfer from Benfica, Victor Boniface, and Piero Hincapié.

However, Falkenberg is clearly unfamiliar with Italian football, and it remains to be seen whether his achievement at Leverkusen and his vision will be enough to overtake Tare and Paratici, who have deep football experience in Italy.