Heynckes wanted to stay at Bayern

Published Jan. 18, 2013 12:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

Bayern Munich coach Jupp Heynckes' decision to retire at the end of the season was not entirely voluntary, says Uli Hoeness.

Heynckes will step down as coach of Bayern when his contract expires in the summer, making way for the arrival of Pep Guardiola.

However, Bayern Munich president Hoeness told Germany's ZDF television that Heynckes would have preferred to extend his contract by a year, but that they could not let the chance to appoint Guardiola slip.

"We informed Jupp early on that we were in contact (with Pep Guardiola)," he said. "Of course he would have liked to have continued for another year, but in the end he decided this way. We are grateful that he didn't make a scene.

"We had the chance to get Pep Guardiola now and who knows when that would have been possible again."

Hoeness, whose close friendship with Heynckes led to his appointment as Bayern coach for a third spell in 2011, has praised the 67-year-old, saying: "We currently have a great coach and we are getting another great coach."

On Guardiola, he said: "He certainly could have earned twice what he will get here, but he is a man who doesn't purely look at the money.

"He has clear ideas of life and of football. He is a man who thinks outside the box and clearly Bayern Munich impressed him the most."

Guardiola has signed a three-year contract with the record German champions but, out of respect for Heynckes, he will not be officially unveiled until after the end of the season.