• ‘I knew hard times were ahead: he has a huge ego’ • Chairman claims Pep Guardiola is a better fit for club

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

The Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has described Louis van Gaal as a high-maintenance coach with a “huge ego”.

Rummenigge hired the current Manchester United manager in 2009, and Van Gaal subsequently led Bayern to a league and cup double in his first year in charge, missing out on a treble by losing the Champions League final to Internazionale.

He was dismissed towards the end of his second season in charge with Bayern sitting fourth in the Bundesliga and already out of the cup, bringing to an end a relationship which had not always been easy according to the Bayern chairman.

“As soon as he presented his autobiography in a snobby restaurant, I knew hard times were ahead,” Rummenigge told Germany’s Spiegel magazine.

“Louis van Gaal was not always easy-care. He wanted to ‘Vangaalise’ our club. He has a huge ego.”

Rummenigge did pay tribute to a “good and successful coach”, but claimed that the current incumbent Pep Guardiola was a much better fit for the club.

“Pep’s a genius,” Rummenigge said. “He’s made Bayern a bit more professional. He’s got high expectations, but he also respects the culture of this club. He has many ideas, sometimes unusual ones, but never crazy.”

Guardiola won the Bundesliga, German cup and Fifa Club World Cup in his first season in charge, and then strengthened the squad with the signings of Mario Götze and Robert Lewandowski from their league rivals Borussia Dortmund.

Although both transfers were controversial – the first for its timing on the eve of Dortmund’s Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid and the second being one of the game’s worst-kept secrets – Rummenigge says they did German football a favour.

“If we hadn’t signed them, they would now be playing abroad somewhere,” he said. “Both make the league attractive.

“Götze had an incredible offer from Manchester City while Real Madrid desperately wanted Lewandowski, and would that have been better for the Bundesliga?”

Bastian Schweinsteiger, meanwhile, has made his first appearance in team training for months following a nagging knee injury.

The 30-year-old midfielder has not played a game in the Bundesliga this season with his last competitive match being the World Cup final on 13 July.

“There will be no pressure,” coach Pep Guardiola said: “We will gradually bring him along, step by step,” though Rummenigge said he could potentially make his comeback “even in 2014”.